Oil does not get mixed into water and the presence of waste of Olive oil does not prove to be beneficial for the environment. Even if it is not present in a huge quantity but still water supply can never be considered safe if there olive oil waste in it. The issue is under consideration and its treatment has been started so that the issue can be resolved and the approach being used is its treatment through yeast.
Scientist are making ways to deal with the problem and they have tried the yeast for this which is surrounded and rooted in fibers so that the pollutants can be digested that are present in the wastewater and a usable product like ethanol is also produced.
The environment can face many unpleasant effects because of very minor quantity of the olive oil in it. The presence of pesticides and the organic compounds of toxic nature in the solid and liquid waste remained due to the production of olive oil makes it very unhealthy for the environment. The waste from olive oil that gets mixed into the water is not only acidic but also it contains high salinity. It is not very easy to get rid of this agricultural waste. Moreover, it is an expensive process.
Yeast has the ability to break down the components that are in the waste but this is not the best way to just pour the yeast into the wastewater as the environment is not going to get any pleasant effect from that. Due to this reason, the treatment of this problem through yeast is done by covering the yeast by the polymer fibers so that the process may be made effective for the environment. The experiment has been done the researchers who belong to Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
According to the findings of their study, yeast Candida Tropicalis was chosen to be utilized for the treatment and it is believed to be effective because phenol and more natural polyphenols can be destroyed by using that and also the accumulation of ethanol is possible through it.
A substantial amount of activity has been seen from the electrospun yeast cells for the bioremediation of phenol and the production of ethanol. Moreover, the process of metabolism stay active for longer duration. The reduction in the activities of the cells is shown by the electrospun cells and when the treatment of the olive oil is done, the olive oil waste did not remain toxic.