Microbial Biotechnology in Olive Oil Industry

Microbial biotechnology is defined as any technological application that uses microbiological systems, microbial organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use (Okafor 2007). Current agricultural and industrial practices have led to the generation of large amounts of various low-value or negative cost crude wastes, which are difficult to treat and valorize. Production of agro-industrial waste pollutants has become a major problem for many industries. The olive oil industry generates large amounts of olive mill wastes (OMWs) as by-products that are harmful to the environment (Roig et al. 2006).