Insights into the changes of amino acids, microbial community, and enzymatic activities related with the nutrient quality of product during the composting of food waste

Abstract

● The highest seed germination index was achieved at 0.3 g/g total solids of food waste.

● Proline was identified as the key amino acid related with the composting process.

● Amino acid metabolism sequences predominated during the whole composting process.

This study systematically investigated the changes of amino acids as the composting process of food waste proceeded. It is found that the addition of 0.3 g/g total solids of food waste achieved the highest seed germination index of the product (268 %). The microbial community results indicated that the abundance of amino acid metabolism sequences remained at high levels during the whole composting process. Proline was identified as the key amino acid related with the nutrient quality of product during the composting of food waste. Further plant germination and hydroponic experiments found, that compared with those without the addition of proline, the addition of 50 mg/L proline increased seed germination rate by 20 %, increased shoot length by 3 %, increased root biomass of seedlings by 82 %, and increased leaf biomass of seedlings by 76 %, respectively. Firmicutes, γ-Pseudomonadota, Chloroflexi and Planctomycetes were the key identified bacteria related with the increase of proline during the composting of food waste. Meanwhile, the enzymatic tests of the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and malondialdehyde indicated that proline did not cause oxidative damage on the growth of plants. This study provided novel insights into the changes of amino acids, microbial community, and enzymatic activities related with the nutrient quality of product during the composting of food waste.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Composting / Food waste / Amino acids / Microbial community / Enzymatic activity / Nutrient quality

References

[1] APHA (2005). Standard Methods for the Examination for Water and Wastewater, 21st ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association

[2] Bernal M P, Alburquerque J A, Moral R. (2009). Composting of animal manures and chemical criteria for compost maturity assessment: a review. Bioresource Technology, 100(22): 5444–5453

[3] Bustamante M A, Restrepo A P, Alburquerque J A, Pérez-Murcia M D, Paredes C, Moral R, Bernal M P. (2013). Recycling of anaerobic digestates by composting: effect of the bulking agent used. Journal of Cleaner Production, 47: 61–69

[4] Chen X, Liu R, Hao J, Li D, Wei Z, Teng R, Sun B. (2019). Protein and carbohydrate drive microbial responses in diverse ways during different animal manures composting. Bioresource Technology, 271: 482–486

[5] de Gannes V, Eudoxie G, Hickey W J. (2013). Prokaryotic successions and diversity in composts as revealed by 454-pyrosequencing. Bioresource Technology, 133: 573–580

[6] Duan M, Gu J, Wang X, Li Y, Zhang S, Yin Y, Zhang R. (2018). Effects of genetically modified cotton stalks on antibiotic resistance genes, intI1, and intI2 during pig manure composting. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 147: 637–642

[7] Estrella-González M J, López-González J A, Suárez-Estrella F, López M J, Jurado M M, Siles-Castellano A B, Moreno J. (2020). Evaluating the influence of raw materials on the behavior of nitrogen fractions in composting processes on an industrial scale. Bioresource Technology, 303: 122945

[8] Guo H, Gu J, Wang X, Nasir M, Yu J, Lei L, Wang J, Zhao W, Dai X. (2019). Beneficial effects of bacterial agent/bentonite on nitrogen transformation and microbial community dynamics during aerobic composting of pig manure. Bioresource Technology, 298: 122384

[9] HeX, ChenL, HanL, LiuN, CuiR, YinH, HuangG (2017). Evaluation of biochar powder on oxygen supply efficiency and global warming potential during mainstream large-scale aerobic composting. Bioresource Technology, 245(Pt A): 309–317

[10] He X S, Yang C, You S H, Zhang H, Xi B D, Yu M D, Liu S J. (2019). Redox properties of compost-derived organic matter and their association with polarity and molecular weight. Science of the Total Environment, 665: 920–928

[11] He Z, Lin H, Hao J, Kong X, Tian K, Bei Z, Tian X. (2018). Impact of vermiculite on ammonia emissions and organic matter decomposition of food waste during composting. Bioresource Technology, 263: 548–554

[12] Li Y, Jin Y. (2015). Effects of thermal pretreatment on acidification phase during two-phase batch anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste. Renewable Energy, 77: 550–557

[13] Li Y, Liu Y, Yong X, Wu X, Jia H, Wong J W C, Wu H, Zhou J. (2020). Odor emission and microbial community succession during biogas residue composting covered with a molecular membrane. Bioresource Technology, 297: 122518

[14] Lim S L, Wu T Y. (2016). Characterization of matured vermicompost derived from valorization of palm oil mill byproduct. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64(8): 1761–1769

[15] Liu H, Wang J, Liu X, Fu B, Chen J, Yu H Q. (2012). Acidogenic fermentation of proteinaceous sewage sludge: effect of pH. Water Research, 46(3): 799–807

[16] Lu Q, Zhao Y, Gao X, Wu J, Zhou H, Tang P, Wei Q, Wei Z. (2018). Effect of tricarboxylic acid cycle regulator on carbon retention and organic component transformation during food waste composting. Bioresource Technology, 256: 128–136

[17] LuoY, LiangJ, ZengG, Chen M, MoD, LiG, ZhangD (2018). Seed germination test for toxicity evaluation of compost: Its roles, problems and prospects. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 71: 109–114

[18] Maciej G, Anna L, Daria P, Marta W G. (2019). Advanced oxidation treatment of composting leachate of food solid waste by ozone-hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Ecological Engineering, 20(5): 203–208

[19] Neher D A, Limoges M A, Weicht T R, Sharma M, Millner P D, Donnelly C. (2020). Bacterial community dynamics distinguish poultry compost from dairy compost and unamended soils planted with Spinach. Microorganisms, 8(10): 1601

[20] Neher D A, Weicht T R, Bates S T, Leff J W, Fierer N. (2013). Changes in bacterial and fungal communities across compost recipes, preparation methods, and composting times. PLoS ONE, 8: e79512

[21] Neher D A, Weicht T R, Dunseith P. (2015). Compost for management of weed seeds, pathogen, and early blight on brassicas in organic farmer fields. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 39: 3–18

[22] Ng H S, Kee P E, Yim H S, Chen P T, Wei Y H, Chi-Wei Lan J. (2020). Recent advances on the sustainable approaches for conversion and reutilization of food wastes to valuable bioproducts. Bioresource Technology, 302: 122889

[23] Partanen P, Hultman J, Paulin L, Auvinen P, Romantschuk M. (2010). Bacterial diversity at different stages of the composting process. BMC Microbiology, 10(1): 94

[24] Qiu X, Zhou G, Zhang J, Wang W. (2019). Microbial community responses to biochar addition when a green waste and manure mix are composted: A molecular ecological network analysis. Bioresource Technology, 273: 666–671

[25] Ren X, Wang Q, Zhang Y, Awasthi M K, He Y, Li R, Zhang Z. (2020). Improvement of humification and mechanism of nitrogen transformation during pig manure composting with Black Tourmaline. Bioresource Technology, 307: 123236

[26] ShanG, Xu J, JiangZ, LiM, LiQ (2019). The transformation of different dissolved organic matter subfractions and distribution of heavy metals during food waste and sugarcane leaves co-composting. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 87: 636–644

[27] Stein H, Honig A, Miller G, Erster O, Eilenberg H, Csonka L N, Szabados L, Koncz C, Zilberstein A. (2011). Elevation of free proline and proline-rich protein levels by simultaneous manipulations of proline biosynthesis and degradation in plants. Plant Science: An International Journal of Experimental Plant Biology, 181(2): 140–150

[28] SunD, LanY, XuE G, Meng J, ChenW (2016). Biochar as a novel niche for culturing microbial communities in composting. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 54: 93–100

[29] SunW, HuangG H, ZengG, Qin X, SunX (2009). A stepwise-cluster microbial biomass inference model in food waste composting. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 29(12): 2956–2968

[30] SunY, MenM, XuB, MengQ, BelloA, Xu X, HuangX (2019). Assessing key microbial communities determining nitrogen transformation in composting of cow manure using illumina high-throughput sequencing. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 92: 59–67

[31] Tong B, Wang X, Wang S, Ma L, Ma W. (2019). Transformation of nitrogen and carbon during composting of manure litter with different methods. Bioresource Technology, 293: 122046

[32] Wang C, Lu H, Dong D, Deng H, Strong P J, Wang H, Wu W. (2013). Insight into the effects of biochar on manure composting: evidence supporting the relationship between N₂O emission and denitrifying community. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(13): 7341–7349

[33] Wang K, Mao H, Li X. (2018). Functional characteristics and influence factors of microbial community in sewage sludge composting with inorganic bulking agent. Bioresource Technology, 249: 527–535

[34] Wang Q, Wang Z, Awasthi M K, Jiang Y, Li R, Ren X, Zhao J, Shen F, Wang M, Zhang Z. (2016). Evaluation of medical stone amendment for the reduction of nitrogen loss and bioavailability of heavy metals during pig manure composting. Bioresource Technology, 220: 297–304

[35] Wang X, Pan S, Zhang Z, Lin X, Zhang Y, Chen S. (2017a). Effects of the feeding ratio of food waste on fed-batch aerobic composting and its microbial community. Bioresource Technology, 224: 397–404

[36] WangX, Zhao Y, WangH, ZhaoX, CuiH, WeiZ (2017b). Reducing nitrogen loss and phytotoxicity during beer vinasse composting with biochar addition. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 61: 150–156

[37] WuJ, ZhaoY, QiH, ZhaoX, YangT, Du Y, ZhangH, WeiZ (2017). Identifying the key factors that affect the formation of humic substance during different materials composting. Bioresource Technology, 244(Pt 1): 1193–1196

[38] Wu X, Liu Y, Yin S, Xiao K, Xiong Q, Bian S, Liang S, Hou H, Hu J, Yang J (2020). Metabolomics revealing the response of rice (Oryza sativa L.) exposed to polystyrene microplastics. Environmental Pollution, 266(Pt 1): 115159

[39] Wu Y, Chen Y, Shaaban M, Zhu D, Hu C, Chen Z, Wang Y. (2019). Evaluation of microbial inoculants pretreatment in straw and manure co-composting process enhancement. Journal of Cleaner Production, 239: 118078

[40] Xiao K, Chen Y, Jiang X, Seow W Y, He C, Yin Y, Zhou Y. (2017). Comparison of different treatment methods for protein solubilisation from waste activated sludge. Water Research, 122: 492–502

[41] XiaoK, Guan R, YangJ, LiH, YuZ, LiangS, Yu W, HuJ, HouH, LiuB (2019). Effects of red mud on emission control of NO_x precursors during sludge pyrolysis: A protein model compound study. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 85: 452–463

[42] Xiao K, Yu Z C, Pei K Y, Sun M, Zhu Y W, Liang S, Hou H J, Liu B C, Hu J P, Yang J K. (2022). Anaerobic digestion of sludge by different pretreatments: changes of amino acids and microbial community. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 16(2): 23

[43] Yang M, Yang J, Su L, Sun K, Li D, Liu Y, Wang H, Chen Z, Guo T. (2019). Metabolic profile analysis and identification of key metabolites during rice seed germination under low-temperature stress. Plant Science: An International Journal of Experimental Plant Biology, 289: 110282

[44] Yang Y, Awasthi M K, Bao H, Bie J, Lei S, Lv J. (2020). Exploring the microbial mechanisms of organic matter transformation during pig manure composting amended with bean dregs and biochar. Bioresource Technology, 313: 123647

[45] Yao X, Zhou H, Meng H, Ding J, Shen Y, Cheng H, Zhang X, Li R, Fan S. (2021). Amino acid profile characterization during the co-composting of a livestock manure and maize straw mixture. Journal of Cleaner Production, 278: 123494

[46] Yin Y, Gu J, Wang X, Zhang Y, Zheng W, Chen R, Wang X. (2019). Effects of rhamnolipid and Tween-80 on cellulase activities and metabolic functions of the bacterial community during chicken manure composting. Bioresource Technology, 288: 121507

[47] Yu H, Xie B, Khan R, Shen G. (2019a). The changes in carbon, nitrogen components and humic substances during organic-inorganic aerobic co-composting. Bioresource Technology, 271: 228–235

[48] Yu Z, Liu X, Zhao M, Zhao W, Liu J, Tang J, Liao H, Chen Z, Zhou S. (2019b). Hyperthermophilic composting accelerates the humification process of sewage sludge: molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter using EEM-PARAFAC and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Bioresource Technology, 274: 198–206

[49] Zhang C, Gao Z, Shi W, Li L, Tian R, Huang J, Lin R, Wang B, Zhou B. (2020). Material conversion, microbial community composition and metabolic functional succession during green soybean hull composting. Bioresource Technology, 316: 123823

[50] ZhangD, Luo W, YuanJ, LiG, LuoY (2017). Effects of woody peat and superphosphate on compost maturity and gaseous emissions during pig manure composting. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 68: 56–63

[51] Zhang S, Chen Z, Wen Q, Ma J, He Z. (2016). Assessment of maturity during co-composting of penicillin mycelial dreg via fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectra: characteristics of chemical and fluorescent parameters of water-extractable organic matter. Chemosphere, 155: 358–366

[52] Zhang S, Hu F, Li H, Li X. (2009). Influence of earthworm mucus and amino acids on tomato seedling growth and cadmium accumulation. Environmental Pollution, 157(10): 2737–2742

[53] Zhang Z, Zhao Y, Yang T, Wei Z, Li Y, Wei Y, Chen X, Wang L. (2019). Effects of exogenous protein-like precursors on humification process during lignocellulose-like biomass composting: amino acids as the key linker to promote humification process. Bioresource Technology, 291: 121882

[54] Zhu L, Yang H, Zhao Y, Kang K, Liu Y, He P, Wu Z, Wei Z. (2019). Biochar combined with montmorillonite amendments increase bioavailable organic nitrogen and reduce nitrogen loss during composting. Bioresource Technology, 294: 122224

[55] Zhu Y, Xiao K, Zhou Y, Yu W, Tao S, Le C, Lu D, Yu Z, Liang S, Hu J, Hou H, Liu B, Yang J. (2020). Profiling of amino acids and their interactions with proteinaceous compounds for sewage sludge dewatering by Fenton oxidation treatment. Water Research, 175: 115645

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press