Olive mill wastewater (OMW) samples from two traditional varieties (Peranzana and Ogliarola Garganica) of Apulian region (southern Italy) and produced through continuous and traditional methods were microbiologically and chemically examined; thus, 104 yeasts were isolated and selected for further analyses. The strains were identified as Candida boidinii, Pichia holstii, Pichia membranifaciens, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and analyzed to assess their suitability to metabolize phenols. Based on phenol metabolism, 27 strains were selected and inoculated into OMW aliquots to determine their ability to reduce phenols in vivo; then, five strains (identified with the codes 682-C. boidinii and 625, 642, 647, and 941-P. holstii) were used as a cocktail in wastewaters for a final validation step. In this last experiment, the effects of the temperature (10-30 degrees C) and (NH(4))(2)SO(4) (0.0-6.0 g l(-1)) were studied through a central composite design approach, and the results highlighted that the cocktail was able to reduce phenols by 40% at 10 degrees C with 6.0 g l(-1) of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) added.