Abstract:
Olive oil mill wastewaters (Zibar) contain phenolic compounds that are recalcitrant to
biodegradation and partially responsible for its phytotoxicity. The environmental
problems and potential hazards caused by OMW in the Mediterranean area has
prompted many countries to develop new technologies to reduce the OMW pollution
impacts on the environment. Different chemical and biological treatments were
developed including the use of microbial biotechnology which mainly focuses on
aerobic procedures for degradation.
The present work was initiated to study the physio-chemical characteristics of the
Lebanese OMW and to identify and characterize the microbial population. Seven
bacterial cultures (Proteus penneri/vulgaris, Pseudomonas viridilivida, Pseudomonas
marginalis, Pseudomonas fluorescence biotype F, Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas
mendocina, Bacillus cereus/ thuringiensisj and two yeast cultures (Candida boidini
and Candida mogii) showing lipolytic activity were isolated and purified.
