title: Treatment of olive mill waste-water by aerobic biodegradation: an analytical study using gel permeation chromatography, ultraviolet-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
abstract: Liquid waste from olive oil mills was digested following inoculation with soil microorganisms and fractionated through various grades of gel. The fractionation showed the range of sizes of the molecules in the waste. In addition, the disappearance of the low molecular weight fraction, which is retained by the gel, and the increase of the high molecular weight fraction, which is excluded by the gel, during the last stages of the microbial treatment, indicates polymerisation of the low-molecular-weight subunits. Characterization of the fractions by UV-visible and FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the increase in their degree of polymerisation during the treatment. This is paralleled by a reduction in the amount of aliphatic components and a concomitant increase in aromatic structures.
authors.affiliation: Equipe Ecologie Végétale, Sol et Environnement, Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi Ayyad, BP 2390, Marrakech, Morocco.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El Hajjouji
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fakharedine
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ait Baddi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Winterton
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bailly
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Revel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hafidi
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D031658:Olea / Q000737:chemistry*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical