New approaches to olive mill wastes bioremediation

• Autor(a) principal: Duarte, José Cardoso
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Pires, Susana, Paixão, Susana M., Sáágua, M. C.
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/2553
• topic: OMW; Biotreatment; B. paranensis; Ecotoxicity

Remediation of olive mill wastewater (OMW) is an important issue associated with olive-oil manufacturing, a widespread activity in the Mediterranean area. This high organic loading effluent contains water, organic acids, high-molecular-weight polyphenols such as tannins, antocyanins and catechins, which are considered to be responsible for its brownish black colour and ecotoxic properties. The composition of OMWs is highly variable with respect to each individual component, depending on the process conditions and on the agricultural specificities. Thus, different approaches are applicable concerning to OMW treatment and valorisation , considering the specificities of its production and in particular the oil extraction process. Besides there are several physical, physico-chemical, biological and combined processes to OMW detoxification, each may represent an opportunity for a specific condition. It is important to explore new possibilities that are both environmentally sustainable and economically viable. Under the biological processes the use of fungi and in particular white-rot fungi present a potential interesting alternative for depollution and biological chemicals production or for protein production for feeding. In this aspect we have been testing the ability of a “white-rot” fungus, Bjerkandera paranensis, to use undiluted OMW from a two phase process mill. A chronic ecotoxicity test (Vibrio fisheri growth inhibition test) demonstrated that the growth of this fungus contributed for a significant decrease of the OMW ecotoxicity and demonstrating the potential for further studies with this strain for an alternative biological route to OMW treatment and valorization.