The object of this work was to carry out a kinetic study on the Candida tropicalis cell lysis and to obtain a kinetic model that would describe the inhibitory and lytic effects of phenol on the yeast growth. From the experiments, a model for the growth kinetic behavior of the yeast was evolved. The proposed model describes satisfactorily the inhibitory and lytic effects of phenol on yeast cultures. From the kinetic model constants, it was found that C. tropicalis showed high affinity and tolerance toward phenol. The overall growth yields decreased when the initial phenol concentration increased, and it may be due to an increased maintenance coefficient and to cell lysis.