Assessment of microbial pools by an innovative microbiological technique during the co-composting of olive mill by-products

Teresa Casacchia, Pietro Toscano, Adriano Sofo, Enzo Perri

.

DOI: 10.4236/as.2011.22015                

Abstract

Different mixtures of olive pomace (OP), olive mill wastewater (OMWW) and olive pruning residues (OPR) were aerobically co-composted under natural conditions. Compost temperature showed a sharp increase in the first 40-60 days, followed by a stabilization at 60°C and a decline after 150 days, whereas compost water content ranged from 50-55% to 25-30%. Total and selec-tive microbial counts were followed throughout the experiment by means of innovative (IMT) and conventional (CMT) microbiological techniques. Pseudomonas spp., anaerobic bacteria, actino-mycetes, and fungi reached levels of 8, 7, 5 and 6 log CFU g–1 compost, respectively, with a slight depression after 30-80 days. Total and fecal coliforms strongly decreased during the com-posting process. The use of IMT allowed to de-tect a higher and more stable growth of micro-organisms if compared to CMT. IMT was dem-onstrated to be an appropriate and reliable method for monitoring the microbial pools dur-ing the co-composting process.

Keywords

Composting; Olive Mill Wastewater; Olive Pomace; Pruning Residues

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Niaounakis, M. and Halvadakis, C.P. (2006) Olive processing waste Management: Literature Review and Patent Survey, second edition. Elsevier Ltd., Kidlington, Oxford, UK.
[2]	Alburquerque, J.A., Gonzálvez, J., García, D. and Cegarra, J. (2004) Agrochemical characterisation of “Alpe-rujo”, a solid by-product of the two-phase centrifugation method for olive oil extraction. Bioresource Technology, 91, 195-200.
[3]	Hachicha, S., Sallemi, F., Medhioub, K., Ha-chicha, R. and Ammar, E. (2008) Quality assessment of com-posts prepared with olive mill wastewater and agricultural wastes. Waste Management, 28, 2593-2603.
[4]	Sellami, F., Jarboui, R., Hachicha, S., Medhioub, K. and Ammar, E. (2008) Co-composting of oil exhausted olive-cake, poultry manure and industrial residues of agro-food activity for soil amend-ment. Bioresource Technology, 99, 1177-1188.
[5]	Benitez, J., Beltran-Heredia, J., Torregrosa, J., Acero, J.L. and Cercas, V. (1997) Aerobic degradation of olive mill wastewaters. Appied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 47, 185-188.
[6]	Vitolo, S., Petrarca, L. and Bresci, B. (1996) Treatment of olive oil indus-try wastes. Bioresource Technology, 67, 129-137
[7]	Beccari, M., Carucci, G., Lanz, A.M., Majone, M. and Petrangeli Papini, M. (2002) Removal of molecular weight fractions of COD and phenolic compounds in an integrated treatment of olive oil mill effluents. Biodegradation, 13, 401-410.
[8]	Amaral, C., Lu-cas, M.S., Coutinho, J., Crespí, A.L., do Rosário Anjos, M. and Pais, C. (2008) Microbiological and physicochemical charac-terization of olive mill wastewaters from a continuous olive mill in northeastern Portugal. Bioresource Technology, 99, 7215-7223.
[9]	Robles, A., Lucas, R., Alvarez de Cienfuegos, G. and Gálvez, A. (2000) Biomass production and detoxifica-tion of wastewaters from the olive oil industry by strains of Penicillium isolated from wastewater disposal ponds. Biore-source Technoogy, 74, 217-221.
[10]	Tsioulpas, A., Dimou, D., Iconomou, D. and Aggelis, G. (2002) Phenolic removal in olive oil mill wastewater by strains of Pleurotus spp. in respect to their phenol oxidase laccase activity. Bioresource Technoogy, 84, 251-257.
[11]	D’Annibale, A., Ricci, M., Quaratino, D., Federici, F. and Fenice, M. (2004) Panus tigrinus efficiently removes phenols, color and organic load from olive-mill wastewater. Research in Microbiology, 155, 596-603.
[12]	Dias, A.A., Bezerra, R.M. and Nazaré Pereira, A. (2004) Activity and elution profile of laccase during bio-logical decolorization and dephenolization of olive mill waste-water. Bioresource Technology, 92, 7-13.
[13]	Lanciotti, R., Gianotti, A., Baldi, D., Angrisani, R., Suzzi, G., Mastrocola, D. and Guerzoni, M.E. (2005) Use of Yarrowia lipolytica strains for the treatment of olive mill wastewater. Bioresource Tech-nology, 96, 317-322.
[14]	Fadil, K., Chahlaoui, A., Ouahbi, A., Zaid, A. and Borja, R. (2003) Aerobic biodegradation and de-toxification of wastewaters from the olive oil industry. Interna-tional Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 51, 37-41.
[15]	Paredes, C., Bernal, M.P., Cegarra, J. and Roig, A. (2002) Bio-degradation of olive mill wastewater sludge by its co-composting with agricultural wastes. Bioresource Technol-ogy, 85, 1-8.
[16]	Paredes, C., Roig, A., Bernal, M.P., Sánchez-Monedero, M.A. and Cegarra, J. (2000) Evolution of organic matter and nitrogen during co-composting of olive mill wastewater with solid organic wastes. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 32, 222-227.
[17]	Paredes, C., Bernal, M.P., Roig, A. and Cegarra, J. (2001) Effects of olive mill wastewater addi-tion in composting of agroindustrial and urban wastes. Bio-degradation, 12, 225-234.
[18]	Paredes, C., Cegarra, J,, Bernal, M.P. and Roig, A. (2005) Influence of olive mill wastewater in composting and impact of the compost on a swiss chard crop and soil properties. Environment International, 31, 305-312.
[19]	Angelidaki, I. and Ahring, B.K. (1997) Codi-gestion of olive oil mill wastewaters with manure, household waste or sewage sludge. Biodegradation, 8, 221-226.
[20]	Picci, G. and Nannipieri, P. (2002) Metodi di analisi microbiologica del suolo - Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali. FrancoAngeli Edizioni, Milan, It-aly.
[21]	Hochstrat, R., Wintgens, T., Melin, T. and Jeffrey, P. (2006) Assessing the European wastewater reclamation and reuse potential - a scenario analysis. Desalination, 188, 1-8.
[22]	Moreno, B., Garcia-Rodriguez, S., Ca?izares, R., Castro, J. and Benítez, E. (2009) Rainfed olive farming in south-eastern Spain: long-term effect of soil management on biological indicators of soil quality. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 131, 333-339.
[23]	Sofo, A., Palese, A.M., Casacchia, T., Celano, G., Ricciuti, P., Curci, M., Crecchio, C. and Xiloyannis, C. (2010) Genetic, functional, and metabolic responses of soil microbiota in a sustainable olive orchard. Soil Science, 175, 81-88.
[24]	Toscano, P., Casacchia, T. and Zaf-fina, F. (2009) Recuperare i reflui oleari per ri-fertilizzare i suoli. Olivo e Olio, 4, 49-53.
[25]	Diacono, M. and Monte-murro, F. (2010) Long-term effects of organic amendments on soil fertility. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 30, 401-422.
[26]	Toscano, P., Casacchia, T. and Zaffina, F. (2009) The “in farm” olive mill residual composting for by-products sustainable reuse in the soils organic fertility res-toration. Proceedings of the 18th Symposium of the Interna-tional Scientific Centre Of Fertilizers - More Sustainability in Agriculture: New Fertilizers And Fertilization Management, November 8-12, 2009, Rome, Italy, 116-121.
[27]	D’Annibale, A., Giovannozzi Sermanni, G., Federici, F. and Petruccioli, M. (2006) Olive-mill wastewaters: a promising substrate for mi-crobial lipase production. Bioresource Technoogy, 97, 1828-1833.
[28]	Papanikolaou, S., Galiotou-Panayotou, M., Fakas, S., Komaitis, M. and Aggelis, G. (2008) Citric acid production by Yarrowia lipolytica cultivated on olive-mill wastewater-based media. Bioresource Technology, 99, 2419-2428.