Decolourization of black olive mill wastewaters (OMW) by depolymerization of phenolic compounds by Geotrichum candidum. Our results show that G. candidum is able to grow on black OMW supplemented with carbon source and nitrogen. The Geotrichum growth decreased the pH and induced a 49% of colour removal when the black OMW was supplemented with glycerol and diammonium tartrate (20 mm ammonium). An improvement of 10% of colour removal was observed when the culture was supplemented with veratryl alcohol. The decolourization was inhibited with glutamate as nitrogen source. Our results suggest the potential use of G. candidum in black OMW decolourization and support the concept that lignin peroxidase (LiP) of G. candidum is involved in the depolymerization of phenolic compounds. This is the first report of LiP production by G. candidum on OMW.

In this work, an evaluation of the biological activities of Globularia alypum L. extracts and their global chemical composition was realized. Extracts from G. alypum were obtained by two extraction methods. The composition of polyphenols (8.5–139.95 g gallic acid equivalent/Kg of dry mass), tannins (1.39–18.65 g catechin equivalent/Kg of dry mass), anthocyanins (8.17–70.69 mg cyanidin equivalent/Kg of dry mass) and flavonoids (0.31–19.28 g quercetin equivalent/Kg of dry mass) was evaluated. The samples were subjected to a screening for their antioxidant activities using the DPPH^· and ABTS^·+ assays. For the first time, the anti-tuberculosis activity (H₃₇Rv) for G. alypum was tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The strongest antioxidant activity was obtained for the methanol extract (IC₅₀ = 15.58 ± 0.168 mg/L) and the best anti-tuberculosis activity was obtained for the petroleum ether extract (IC₅₀ = 77 mg/L). We have found a positive correlation between the total phenolics content and the antioxidant activity R² = 0.88 (DPPH^·) and R² = 0.97 (ABTS^·+). We have found also a positive correlation between the flavonoid content and the antioxidant activity R² = 0.91 (DPPH^·) and R² = 0.91 (ABTS^·+).

As bulking agents (BA) affect the composting process, this work examined the impact of combinations of different organic components in order to obtain an efficient co-substrate for food waste (FW) in-vessel composting. To boost the occurrence of microorganisms inhabiting the compost, mature compost was firstly coupled with wheat straw, added to FW, and considered as a control (BC₀). Then, two trials (BC₁₀, BC₂₀) including 10% and 20% of biochar were monitored. The results indicated that the temperature of the amended bioreactors was notably increased compared to the unamended one. Thermophilic temperatures were achieved at 14, 34, and 78 h after the experimental setup for BC₂₀, BC₁₀, and BC₀, which lasted for 14, 17, and 12 days, respectively. When it came to an assessment of maturity and stability, the quality of the compost was evaluated against several indicators and compared with the compost quality standards of the UK, France, Canada, the USA, Poland, and Germany. BC₁₀ illustrated a high-quality product in relation to the heavy metal concentration, a C:N ratio which reached 14.97, an AT4 which was lower than 6 (4.36 mg O₂/g TS), and a nitrification index of 2.61 (<3). Consequently, the addition of 10% of biochar as a co-substrate showed an improvement of the process evolution and the characteristics of the biofertilizer produced.