Overlooked abiotic humification for kanamycin removal in kanamycin fermentation waste by tea polyphenols: New, environmentally friendly and specific

Kanamycin, a typical aminoglycoside antibiotic, is mainly used for the treatment of diseases in humans or animals, while the related antibiotic pollution has been regarded as a serious issue. In this study, a green novel approach to remove kanamycin was established, specifically, kanamycin was specifically removed through abiotic humification process with tea polyphenols (TPs) as the polyphenol donor. The results demonstrated that the kanamycin could be effectively removed by TPs under alkaline conditions, with a 99.9 % highest removal efficiency. Among the three factors (pH, temperature and MnO2 dosage) selected in this study, pH was the most critical factor, with an increase in reaction pH (>6.0) leading to a higher kanamycin removal efficiency, and the temperature and MnO2 dosage ranked as the second and third important factor. Furthermore, kanamycin was mainly removed by being transformed into humic-like acid (HLA) product, and the product antimicrobial activity could be significantly reduced (≥27). Finally, satisfying removal efficiency of kanamycin were observed during the application of TPs in kanamycin fermentation wastewater and kanamycin mycelial residue (KMR), with the highest kanamycin removal efficiency was 99.9 %, and 99.6 %, respectively. This study could also offer insights for the removal of other pollutants containing primary amine or polyphenols.