Screening and selection of fungi for bioremediation of olive mill wastewater

Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) is a significant pollutant and its phytotoxicity is attributed mostly to the phenols present. 220 fungi were screened for their ability to produce detoxifying enzymes and/or grow in OMWW. Four isolates, species of Cerrena, Byssochlamys, Lasiodiplodia and Bionectria were selected and compared against Phanerochaete chrysosporium for their ability to bioremediate OMWW in the presence of a competing indigenous microflora. For the first time we report that a Cerrena sp. achieved a 75% reduction of phenolics in OMWW and that, unusually, the reduction occurred within 2 h of the addition to the OMWW.