2.2.2 Total organic carbon measurement (TOC) Degradation was quantified by the estimation of water soluble total organic carbon (TOC) and drop in the pH of the culture media. To assess the total organic carbon present in the basal medium, approximately 10ml of culture broth was withdrawn from the flask for the analysis of TOC and pH. The reaction mixture containing TOC was measured with a TOC - 5000A Analyzer (Shimadzu