Increase in the Maturity of Walnut Green Husk Compost by Adding a Microbial Consortium with High Tolerance to Walnut Green Husk Extract
摘要
The antibacterial substances contained in the walnut green husk (WGH) inhibit microbial growth and metabolism, resulting in start-up difficulty and poor efficiency during composting. In this study, seven bacterial strains with strong tolerance to WGH extract were screened out and combined into a microbial consortium (MC). Then, the effects of the MC on maturity during co-composting of WGH, mushroom spent substrate, and rice straw were investigated. The impact of the compost products on vegetable plantings was also assessed. The results showed that inoculation with the MC increased the total nutrient content (TNC) and alkaline phosphatase (AlkP) activity by 8.1% and 3.9%, respectively, and decreased E4/E6 by 12% during the composting. High-throughput sequencing showed that the relative abundances of Saccharomonospora,Thermobifida, and Thermomyces in the MC-treated group increased by 33.1%, 24.2%, and 8.9%, respectively, relative to the values in the control group. Redundancy analysis indicated that the bacterial communities in the MC group were correlated with TNC, germination index, pH, and AlkP. Additionally, the application of composts containing MC enhanced plant height and fresh weight of pak choi by 8.5% and 6.7%, respectively. These findings suggested that MC addition altered the microbial community composition in compost, thereby promoting cellulose degradation and effectively increasing compost maturity, which was conducive to the growth of vegetable plantings.
Graphical Abstract