This study evaluated the biodegradation of catechol by a yeast strain of Candida parapsilopsis in standard medium in Erlenmeyer flasks. Results shown that the highest concentration of catechol caused the longer lag period, demonstrating that acclimatized cultures could completely degrade an initial catechol concentration of 910 mg/L within 48 h. Haldane's model validated the experimental data adequately for growth kinetics over the studied catechol concentration ranges of 36 to 910 mg/L. The constants obtained for this model were µmax = 0.246 h-1, Ks = 16.95 mg/L and Ki = 604.85 mg/L.
Candida parapsilopsis; Biodegradation; Catechol; Growth kinetics; Equation of Haldane; Substrate inhibition
