Isolation and Characterization of an Olive Oil-degrading Bacterium and its Application in Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

An olive oil-degrading bacterium strain N12 was isolated from soil and grown in mineral medium containing 0.2% olive oil as the sole carbon source. Physiologic, biochemical, and genetic analyses revealed that the strain belonged to the genus Acinetobacter. The strain N12 demonstarated lipase activity in the culture supernatant when cultivated under aerobic conditions in the oil-containing medium at 30°C. After incubating the strain in the medium for 24 h, n-hexane extract concentration in the culture medium decreased to 0.8% of the initial concentration ; this suggested that the strain could efficiently degrade the oil and fat (O/F). In addition, the strain was used in a grease trap system that had an inflow of restaurant wastewater. During the addition of the strain to the grease trap, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) values and n-hexane extract concentration in the treated remained low. This indicates that the strain also functions as an effective cleaner in such a practical systems as well as in the abovementioned flask test.