Phenolic removal in olive oil mill wastewater by strains of Pleurotus spp. in respect to their phenol oxidase (laccase) activity

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 84; no. 3; pp. 251 - 257
• Main Authors: Tsioulpas, A., Dimou, D., Iconomou, D., Aggelis, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Biological treatment of waters; Biotechnology; Biotechnology - methods; Color; culture media; Environment and pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; germination; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Industrial Waste; Laccase; monophenol monooxygenase; Monophenol Monooxygenase - metabolism; nutrients; oil mill effluents; Olea; Olive Oil; Olive oil mill wastewater (OMW); oxidation; Oxidoreductases - chemistry; Phenol - chemistry; Phenol - pharmacology; phenolic compounds; Phenolics; Phytotoxicity; Plant Oils - analysis; Pleurotus; Pleurotus - metabolism; Time Factors; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Pleurotus; Phytotoxicity; Olive oil mill wastewater (OMW); Phenolics; Laccase; Basidiomycetes; Lignicolous; Compositae; Biological purification; Fungi; Enzymatic activity; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Lycopersicon esculentum; Oxidation; Solanaceae; Lactuca sativa; Edible fungi; Thallophyta; Pleurotus ostreatus; Enzyme; Germination; Color; Detoxification; Oil plant; Vegetable crop; Test plant; Phenols; Spermatophyta; Oxidoreductases; Waste water purification
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/S0960-8524(02)00043-3

The ability of several
Pleurotus spp. strains to remove phenolic compounds from an olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) was studied. All strains tested in this work were able to grow in OMW without any addition of nutrients and any pre-treatment, except sterilization. High laccase activity was measured in the growth medium, while 69–76% of the initial phenolic compounds were removed. The black color of OMW became yellow-brown and brighter as the strains grew. The lowest phenolic concentrations were reached after 12/15 days. A decrease of the phytotoxicity, as described by the parameter Germination Index, was noticed in the OMW treated with some
Pleurotus spp strains, although this decrease was not proportional to the phenolic removal. A new parameter, namely Phenol-toxicity Index, was considered in the present paper. Using this parameter it was found that the remaining phenolics and/or some of the oxidation products of the laccase reaction in the treated OMW were more toxic than the original phenolic compounds.