Microbial Conversion of Biomass for Functional Biofertilizers

摘要

Agricultural wastes contain lots of plant nutrients, high moisture content and no toxic substance. They can be converted to functional biofertilizers with appropriate microbes. Microbial inoculation enhanced the degradation of agricultural wastes, increased the total nitrogen and the germination rate of alfalfa seed, shortened the maturity period and improved the quality of biofertilizer. In food waste inoculated with thermophilic and lipolytic Brevibacillus borstelensis SH168 for 28 days, total nitrogen increased from 2.01 to 2.10%, ash increased from 24.94 to 29.21%, crude fat decreased from 4.88 to 1.34% and the C/N ratio decreased from 18.02 to 17.65. Each gram of final product had a higher population of thermophilic microbes than mesophilic microbes. Thermophilic phosphate-solubilizing microbes could solubilize Ca3(PO4)2, FePO4, AlPO4, hydroxyapatite and rock phosphate. Inoculation of thermophilic phosphate-solubilizing microbes C45, F18, O1 or V1 to the agricultural wastes increased the solubilized phosphate concentration and improved the quality of biofertilizers. The solubilizing phosphate concentration increased to 1.38-1.56 g kg-1, while the control was only 0.71 g kg-1. Therefore, microbial conversion of food waste or agricultural wastes to multiple-functional biofertilizer is a feasible and potential technology in the future to maintain the natural resources and to reduce the impact on environmental quality.