Roles of two white-rot basidiomycete fungi in decolorisation and detoxification of olive mill waste water

A Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain was isolated from Moroccan olive mill waste water (OMW) and its ability to degrade OMW in different culture condi tions was investigated and compared to that of Pleurotus ostreatus. The res ults indicated that Ph. chrysosporium isolate is more efficient than Pl. os treatus in decolorising and detoxifying OMW in the presence of added nutrie nts. Ph. chrysosporium is able to remove more than 50% of the colour and ph enols from OMW within 6 days of incubation, whereas Pl. ostreatus needs mor e than 12 days to reach similar results in the same conditions. Many factor s affecting the treatment of diluted OMW (20%) by Ph. chrysosporium were st udied. including the effects of added nutrients, initial pH, temperature an d inoculated biomass. Once the optimisation of 20% OMW biodegradation proce ss had been set up, higher OMW concentrations (50%) were tested. The result s show that the fungus is capable of reducing all parameters analysed (colo ur A(395), phenol content and chemical oxygen demand) by at least 60%, afte r only 9 days of growth.