Olive oil mill wastewaters pollution abatement by physical treatments and biodegradation with Phanerochaetae chrysosporium

This paper discusses decolorization and chemical oxygen demand (COD) abatement in olive mill wastewaters (OMW) by Phanerochaetae chrysosporium grown in static, suspended and immobilised cultures. When P chrysosporium is used in cultures, no decolorization of crude OMW is observed. Decolorization occurs only after removal of polyphenols by adsorption on wood sawdust, which allows for removal of 39% of polyphenols. The use of High lignin peroxides (Lip) producing medium, yields the highest OMW decolorization and COD removal efficiencies. The use of P chrysosporium immobilized on polyurethane foam leads to significant abatements of OMW polluting characteristics. In fact, chemical oxygen demand (COD), Biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and polyphenols contents are significantly reduced. In addition, a significant effluent decolorization is obvious.