Enumeration and characterization of microorganisms involved in the degradation of abattoir waste in portharcourt

The enumeration and characterization of microorganisms involved in the degradation of abattoir waste in Port Harcourt was investigated. Soil and wastewater samples contaminated with abattoir wastes were collected. The mean counts of the soil samples showed that the total aerobic plate count ranged from 3.2 ± 1.1 to 7.3 + 2.3 Log10cfu/g; proteolytic count ranged from 1.9 ± 0.3 to 3.0 + 0.9 Log10cfu/g; amylolytic count ranged from 1.1 ± 0.30 to 3.85 + 0.8 Log10cfu/g; cellulolytic count ranged from 0.35 ± 0.15 to 0.95 + 0.30 Log10cfu/g and lipolytic count ranged from 0 to 0.06 + 0.01 Log10cfu/g.The fungal count ranged from 2.2 ± 1.3 to 4.5 + 1.5 Log10cfu/g. The mean counts of the wastewater samples revealed that the total aerobic plate count ranged from 2.0 ± 0.9 to 8.6 ± 3.6 Log10cfu/m; proteolytic count ranged from 1.6 ± 0.7 to 4.7 ± 2.1 Log10cfus/mL; amylolytic count ranged from 0.45 ± 0.1 to 4.0 ± 1.7 log10cfu/mL; cellulolytic count ranged from 0.28 ± 0.06 to 0.35 ± 0.11 Log10cfu/mL while the lipolytic count had no count. The fungal count ranged from 2.2 ± 1.4 to 3.2 ± 1.6 Log10cfu/mL.The microorganisms isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Cytophaga species, Streptococccus species, Pseudomonas species, Bacillus species, Micrococcus species, Klebsiella species, Vibrio cholerae Aspergillus species, Cladosporium species and Rhizopus species This indicates that microorganisms can actively degrade abattoir waste.