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

Highlights

● 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.

Abstract

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

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Abbreviations

AAs	Amino acids
ANOVA	One-way analysis of variance
DOM	Dissolved organic matter
EC	Electrical conductivity
3D-EEM	Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix
Em	Emission
Ex	Excitation
FW	Food waste
GI	Germination index
KEGG	Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
MDA	Malondialdehyde
NBT	Nitro blue tetrazole
OM	Organic matter
OTUs	Operational taxonomic units
PBS	Phosphate buffered saline
PCR	Polymerase chain reactions
POD	Peroxidase
Pro	Proline
PVP	Polyvinyl pyrrolidone K-30
RU	Raman Units
ROS	Reactive oxygen species
SOD	Superoxide dismutase
TS	Total solids
XPS	X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52170133, U1901216, and 51708239), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFD1100600). The Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) and the Core Facilities of Life Sciences of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) were also acknowledged.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1635-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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