The growth of Aspergillus niger and the growth characteristics of the cultures were detd. In addn., the phys. and chem. characteristics of the broth like pH, COD (COD), ashes are presented. It was interesting to find that the intensive growth of A. niger was obsd. in pure distillery spentwash (DSW) contg. no addnl. nutriments than the one present naturally in DSW. All the measured parameters, such as the total solids, suspended solids, ashes, COD and C/N, except for pH, were always higher in DSW from Reunion than in DSW from other countries. [on SciFinder(R)]