Lactobacillus plantarum No. PV71-1861, isolated from pickle samples in Thailand, showed the high potential for use in decolorization of molasses wastewater under both anaerobic and facultative (static) conditions. The strain showed the highest melanoidin pigment (MP) decolorization yield of 68.12% with MP solution (color intensity corresponding to an optical density of 3.5 units at 475 nm) containing 2% glucose, 0.4% yeast extract, 0.1% KH(2)PO(4), 0.05% MgSO(4)center dot 7H(2)O and initial pH of 6 under static condition at 30 degrees C within 7 days. But, it showed low growth and MP decolorization yields under aerobic conditions. Gel filtration chromatograms of the MP solutions showed that the small molecular weight fraction of MP solution was decolorized by the strain when the large molecular weight fraction still remained in the effluent. For application, the strain could apply to treat anaerobic treated-molasses wastewater (T-MWW) with high removal efficiency. The highest MP removal efficiencies and growth yield of 76.6% and 2.6 mg/mL, respectively, were observed with the T-MWW within 7 days of culture, and the effluent pH of the system was decreased to lower than 4.0 after 2-3 days operation. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.