Short-term impact of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) applications on the physico-chemical and microbiological soil properties of an olive grove in Argentina

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate the effects of spreading olive oil mill wastewater (OMWW) on soil biochemical parameters and olive production in an organically managed olive orchard. The experiment was carried out with three different doses of OMWW (80, 160 and 500 m(3) ha(-1)) and a control (untreated soil). Three samplings were done at 10, 30 and 90 days after the administration of the byproduct. OMWW application differentially modified the biochemical properties of the soil analyzed. Organic matter, organic carbon, total nitrogen and extractable phosphorus soil contents increased proportionally with each increasing dose. The values of these parameters decreased gradually with time. Total microbial activity was altered and the OMWW 500 m(3) ha(-1) treatment proved to be the most active when compared with the other applied doses. OMWW agricultural application also modified the structure of soil microbial communities, particularly affecting Gram positive and negative bacteria, while fungal biomass did not show consistent changes. Although there was a salinity increase in the treated soil, especially at the highest dose, the productive parameters analyzed (fruit and oil tree(-1)) were not affected. In light of the obtained results, we consider that low dose of OMWW could be considered an alternative farming practice for semiarid regions.

The Impact of Different Techniques of Soil Management on Soil Fertility and the Associated Bacterial Communities in Semi-arid Olive Tree Fields

“…However, despite its fundamental economic importance, olive oil industries have several drawbacks, like olive mill wastewater (OMW) arising from olive processing, which is one of the strongest and most troublesome industrial effluents (Mekki et al 2006;Magdich et al 2016). OMW contains high amounts of organic matter, with both biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (Pierantozzi et al 2013), as well as suspended solids. In addition, OMW is characterized by large discharge volumes, high salinity, low pH, and presence of toxic compounds such as polyphenols (Chaari et al 2014).…”

Biostimulant Potential of Humic Acids Extracted From an Amendment Obtained via Combination of Olive Mill Wastewaters (OMW) and a Pre-treated Organic Material Derived From Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

“…The oil extraction process requires water in large amounts and generates an annual world production of wastewaters to be treated as high as 30 million tons ( Roig et al, 2006 ; Mechri et al, 2007 ; Sellami et al, 2008 ). OMW are characterized by a high pollutant load because of their significant content in phenolic compounds with antimicrobial-phytotoxic action and limited biodegradability ( Komilis et al, 2005 ; Justino et al, 2012 ).…”