The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the treatment of rice parboiling effluent (PE) and biomass production. PE was inoculated with S. cerevisiae at 1.2 x 104 CFU mL-1 and cultured in shaker at 28 °C and 180 rpm for 72 h. PE supplied the required nutrients for S. cerevisiae growth, reaching a biomass of ± 8.2 g L−1, cell viability of ± 2 x 1011 CFU mL−1 and removals of 74%, 56% and 17% for total Kjedahl nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand and phosphorus, respectively. The versatile of S. cerevisiae supported the direct and non-supplemented cultivation in PE, resulting in high removals of nutrient and biomass production and represent an alternative method to reduce the environmental impact of rice industry and an alternative process to obtain marketable yeast biomass.