African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (2), pp. 116-119, 18 January 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Impact analysis of palm oil mill effluent on the aerobic bacterial density and ammonium oxidizers in a dumpsite in Anyigba, Kogi State

Okwute, Ojonoma Loretta^1* and Isu, NR²

¹Department of Microbiology, Kogi State University, P.M.B. 1008 Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.

²Department of Biological Sciences, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author E-mail: lolookwute@yahoo.com.  Tel: +2348065261042.

Accepted 14 November, 2006

The effects of palm oil mill effluent (POME) on the total aerobic bacterial populations and ammonium oxidizers in the soil were assessed. This was done by culturing soil samples from an effluent dumpsite for the total aerobic bacterial counts and ammonium oxidizers. Results showed that the total aerobic bacterial populations in the POME soil samples (9.6 x 10⁸ ± 0.3 at 20^oC, 1.64 x 10⁹ ± 0.2 at 30^oC and 1.07 x 10⁹ ± 0.4 at 40^oC) were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than the counts for the non-POME soil samples (4.5 x 10⁸ ± 0.3 at 20^oC, 7.6 x 10⁸ ± 0.3 at 30^oC and 5.9 x 10⁸ ± 0.3 at 40^oC). In addition, ammonium oxidizers were isolated from the non-POME soil samples but not from the POME soil samples.

Key words: Palm oil mill effluent, total aerobic bacteria, ammonium oxidizers.