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Optimal growth condition of earthworms and their vermicompost features during recycling of five different fresh fruit and vegetable wastes

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Abstract

This study aimed to promote vermicomposting performance for recycling fresh fruit and vegetable wastes (FVWs) and to assess microbial population and community of final products. Five fresh FVWs including banana peels, cabbage, lettuce, potato, and watermelon peels were chosen as earthworms’ food. The fate test of earthworms showed that 30 g fresh FVWs/day was the optimal loading and the banana peels was harmful for the survival of Eisenia fetida. The followed vermicomposting test revealed lower contents of total carbon and weaker microbial activity in final vermicomposts, relative to those in compared systems without earthworms worked. The leachate from FVWs carried away great amounts of nutrients from reactors. Additionally, different fresh FVWs displayed dissimilar stabilization process. Molecular biological approaches revealed that earthworms could broaden bacterial diversity in their products, with significant greater populations of actinobacteria and ammonia oxidizing bacteria than in control. This study evidences that vermicomposting efficiency differs with the types and loadings of fresh FVWs and vermicomposts are rich in agricultural probiotics.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the fund of the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 51568035) for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Kui Huang, Hui Xia, Guangyu Cui, Xiaoyong Fu & Xuemin Chen

  2. River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Kui Huang, Fusheng Li, Yongfen Wei & Guangyu Cui

Authors
  1. Kui Huang
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  2. Hui Xia
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  3. Fusheng Li
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  4. Yongfen Wei
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  5. Guangyu Cui
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  6. Xiaoyong Fu
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  7. Xuemin Chen
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Correspondence to Kui Huang.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Huang, K., Xia, H., Li, F. et al. Optimal growth condition of earthworms and their vermicompost features during recycling of five different fresh fruit and vegetable wastes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 13569–13575 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6848-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6848-1

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