Phenolic compounds removal by grasses and soil bacteria after land application of treated palm oil mill effluent: A pot study

Abstract

Land application of treated palm oil mill effluent (TPOME) could be used as an alternative tertiary wastewater treatment process. However, phenolic compounds in TPOME might be leached to the environment. This study investigated the ability of grasses on reducing phenolic compounds in the leachate after TPOME application. Several pasture grasses in soil pots were compared after irrigating with TPOME from stabilization ponds, which contained 360-630 mg/L phenolic compounds. The number of soil bacteria in planted pots increased over time with the average of 108 CFU/g for mature grasses, while only 104-106 CFU/g were found in the unplanted control pots. The leachates from TPOME irrigated grass pots contained lower amounts of phenolic compounds and had lower phytotoxicity than that of control pots. The phenol removal efficiency of grass pots was ranged 67-93% and depended on grass cultivars, initial concentration of phenolic compounds and frequency of irrigations. When compared to water irrigation, TPOME led to an increased phenolic compounds accumulation in grass tissues and decreased biomass of Brachiaria hybrid and Brachiaria humidicola but not Panicum maximum. Consequently, the application of TPOME could be conducted on grassland and the grass species should be selected based on the utilization of grass biomass afterward.