Impacts of digestate-based compost on soil property and nutrient availability

• Published in: Environmental research 2023-10, Vol.234, p.116551-116551, Article 116551
• Main Authors: Wang, Ning, Bai, Xinyue, Huang, Dandan, Chen, Qindong, Shao, Mingshuai, Xu, Qiyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomass; Chlorophyll; Compost; Digestate; Nutrients; Photosynthesis
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116551

The treatment of digestate from food waste (DFW) has emerged as the bottleneck for food waste anaerobic digestion. DFW generally contains abundant nutrients that can be recycled by composting. However, the effect of DFW-based compost on soil improvement has not been extensively explored. In this study, soil properties were improved by adding various amounts of DFW-based compost, and the growth conditions of Pak choi were monitored. The results indicated that the DFW-based compost could provide nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and organic matter, thereby enhancing the growth of Pak choi, accumulating chlorophyll, and improving photosynthesis efficiency. As the amount of added DFW-based compost increased from 0% to 20%, the fresh biomass, leaf weight, and root weight of Pak choi increased by 242%, 262%, and 99%, respectively. The total chlorophyll content was 2.62 mg g−1 in control and increased to 12.45 mg g−1 in the group with 20% DFW-based compost, benefiting the photochemical efficiency of Pak choi. However, the growth was inhibited when the addition amount exceeded 20%, potentially due to excessive nutrient supplementation. Overall, the addition of 20% of DFW-based compost was suggested to promote the growth of Pak choi by providing proper nutrients. [Display omitted] •The soil property was improved by the addition of DFW-based compost.•DFW-based compost provided Ca and Mg for the generation of chlorophyll.•The fresh weight of Pak choi increased by 242% with 20% DFW-based compost.•The addition of 20% DFW-based compost was suggested to improve soil properties.•These findings provided theoretical information for researchers to utilize DFW.