ABSTRACT

 Palm Oil is edible oil which is known to have originated from West Africa. It has the botanical name Elaeis guineensis, derived from the Greek word Elaion; meaning oil, while the specific name; guineensis indicates that it originates from the Guinea Coast. The Palm Oil mill effluent was obtained and evaluated for its soil microflora inorder to identify and characterize the microorganisms which could be found in the soil containing the palm oil mill effluent. Different microorganisms were isolated and characterized, of which the bacteria isolated include; Pseudomonas species, Bacillus species, Proteus species and Staphylococcus species. While, the fungi isolated and characterized include the following; Aspergillus species, Rhizopus species, Geotrichum species and Penicillium species. The methods employed for the bacterial characterization include; macroscopic and microscopic characterization. Biochemical tests and carbohydrate utilization tests were also employed. For fungi, it was characterized microscopically