Exploring the potential of garbage enzyme as an eco-friendly option for leachate treatment collected from Pirana dumping site, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

• Garbage enzyme (GE) shows promising bio-catalytic potential in leachate treatment. • Significant COD and NH 3 -N reduction achieved with citrus and non-citrus GE variants. • GE contains active enzymes (lipase, amylase) and key metabolites aiding degradation. • Metagenomic profiling revealed Acetobacter senegalensis as a dominant GE microbe. Garbage enzyme (GE), a bio-catalytic solution produced through the fermentation of organic waste, has gained popularity as an alternate way to wastewater and leachate treatment. This study examines the ability of GE to degrade organic pollutants, and hazardous chemicals usually present in leachate. In this regard, the leachate samples were collected from the Pirana solid waste dumping site in Ahmedabad, India. The samples were having average values of different parameters like pH: 8.8 ± 0.12 mg/L, Total dissolve solids (TDS mg/L) 19000 ± 199.9 mg/L, and Electric conductivity (EC mg/L) 21800 ± 110.12, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD mg/L) 13500 ± 2411 mg/L, and Ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 3 -N mg/L): 1750 ± 15.01 mg/L. Furthermore, one of the representative samples was utilized for the exploration of the biodegradation capacity of GE of the organic pollutants present in the leachate. Before the utilization of the GE in the treatment, the GE is characterized via biochemical profiling, enzymatic activity analysis, and metagenomic profiling of microbial populations. The findings show the presence of metabolites like flavonoids, alkaloids, quinones, saponins, and cardenolides in the GE; the bacterial group Acetobacter senegalensis was generally considered higher in the population, and the Komagataeibacter swingsii was in low abundance . In addition to that, the presence of enzymes like lipase and amylase was also confirmed with the further biochemical analysis. The treatment efficiency showed the significant reduction in the COD (47 % for citrus fruit GE and 60 % for the non-citrus fruit GE) and NH 3 -N 40 % for citrus fruit GE and 45 % for the non-citrus fruit) GE as compared to the control.