**Author details**

membrane shuttle system into the cytoplasm. Carbolic acid is converted to catechol, and after three enzymatic steps, oxaloacetate is formed; the final step is the conversion of oxalacetate to acetaldehyde and pyruvate. The enzymes involved are oxygenase, hydroxylase, peroxidase, tyrosinase, and peroxidase [31, 32]. These products, finally, follow the main metabolic pathway up to their complete mineralization by mitochondrial chain [33, 34]. The oxalacetate can also be used in other cellular activities. The isolates 13M, 44M, and 6P strains were catalase positive

The isolates showed a good metabolic capacity towards simple phenolic compounds, as they were generally able to survive, with some exceptions to this generalized statement. In addition, some isolates (e.g., 13M) significantly reduced the concentration of some compounds in the broth and these are desired traits to select a promising microorganism acting as a bioreme‐

Concerning the second step of the research (combined effects of phenols and pH), the most important result was the effect of alkaline pH, as it seemed to exert a protective role on cell viability, thus we could suggest that phenolic metabolism at basic pHs is favored because the enzymes might have an optimal pH of 9. In these conditions a high presence of hydroxyl ions is ensured and it is very important as they represent a fundamental substrate used in the first step of the catabolic pathway of phenol to obtain catechol. These assumptions, however, require a confirmation. Finally, the protective effect of alkaline pH suggests the potential use

Bioremediation could be considered as the promising solution for numerous food industry wastes, and to date, several works are in progress to isolate new phenol-degrading strains. This work concurs to confirm the importance of microorganisms to degrade pollutants; we selected some promising bacterial isolates, showing some desired traits in lab media. Further investigations are required to improve our work, i.e., evaluation of waste, evaluation of the

This paper was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research through the grant ECO\_P4 Promotion of ECO-friendly processes for the enhancement of quality of apulian food productions (P.O.N. RICERCA E COMPETITIVITA' 2007-2013 per le Regioni della Convergenza - Avviso n. 713/Ric. del 29/10/2010 - Titolo II - "Sviluppo/Poten‐

of these isolates for the bioremediation of alkaline washing water of table olives.

effect on BOD and COD, and a focus on the role of alkaline pH on the removal.

and this trait is an important requirement as it is related to phenol degradation [28].

diation tool [35].

96 Wastewater Treatment Engineering

**5. Conclusions**

**Acknowledgements**

ziamento di DAT e di LPP").

Daniela Campaniello, Antonio Bevilacqua\* , Milena Sinigaglia and Maria Rosaria Corbo

\*Address all correspondence to: antonio.bevilacqua@unifg.it

Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
