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Compost produced from residues of a zoo park improves soil fertility and increases the growth and production of plants

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Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the potential of an organic compost in providing nutrients when added to the soil. This fertilizer is generated in a production unit located in the São Paulo Zoo Park in Brazil. It comprises animal manure, plants pruning, dead trees, and solid waste from water treatment and sanitary effluents. This compost’s growth power, which is efficiently used to fertilize the garden and farm of the zoo, was assessed. Six soil treatments were chemically characterized and tested in the cultivation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). The nutrient (N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Fe, Mg, and Zn) contents in the lettuce and soils were evaluated using chemometrics. The soil fertility analysis showed an increase in the quality of the composted soil due to Mg and Fe and pH increase. Principal component analysis showed that Al was a relevant nutrient for all treatments before planting, whereas soil with mineral fertilizer or leachate contained high levels of Cu. Samples of compost-enriched soil exhibited high concentrations of Fe and Mg before planting. Cation-exchange capacity, H+Al, P, K, S, and pH allowed the treatments’ comparison. The loadings plot showed that compost-enriched soil samples were characterized by K, Mg, Cu, S, and P; and leachate-enriched soil by Fe, Mg, and Na. Lettuce’s elemental analysis exhibits a direct correlation between the soil conditions and the quality of the vegetable produced. Compost-enriched soil produced larger plants yielding average weight leaves of around 3 to 10 times higher than all the other treatments, indicating its benefits for soil fertilization. This recycling process is a sustainable development tool that allows the reuse of waste produced in zoos worldwide.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to MSc. Marco A. Sperança and Professor Edenir R. Pereira Filho, from Universidade Federal de São Carlos, for their helpful discussions of the chemometrics approach.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (2014/07037-0) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (163888/2013-2, 430649/2016-9, and 308788/2015-0).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biofísica, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 04044-020, Brazil

    Luciana Teresa Dias Cappelini & Luiz Juliano

  2. Instituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, 13566-590, Brazil

    Luciana Teresa Dias Cappelini, Patrícia Fátima Menegoci Eugênio, Juliana Vieira Alberice, Ana Carolina Urbaczek & Emanuel Carrilho

  3. Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, SP, 09972-270, Brazil

    Nilson Antonio Assunção

  4. Departamento de Pesquisas Aplicadas, Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 04301-905, Brazil

    Patricia Locosque Ramos

  5. Departamento de Biotecnologia e Produção Vegetal e Animal, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Araras, SP, 13604-900, Brazil

    Fernando Cesar Sala

  6. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Bioanalítica, Campinas, SP, CEP 13083-790, Brazil

    Emanuel Carrilho

  7. Departamento de Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e Educação, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Araras, SP, 13604-900, Brazil

    Elma Neide Vasconcelos Martins Carrilho

  8. Laboratório de Materiais Poliméricos e Biossorventes, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Araras, SP, 13604-900, Brazil

    Elma Neide Vasconcelos Martins Carrilho

Authors
  1. Luciana Teresa Dias Cappelini
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  2. Patrícia Fátima Menegoci Eugênio
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  3. Juliana Vieira Alberice
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  4. Ana Carolina Urbaczek
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  5. Nilson Antonio Assunção
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  6. Patricia Locosque Ramos
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  7. Fernando Cesar Sala
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  8. Emanuel Carrilho
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  10. Elma Neide Vasconcelos Martins Carrilho
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Correspondence to Elma Neide Vasconcelos Martins Carrilho.

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Luciana Teresa Dias Cappelini and Patrícia Fátima Menegoci Eugênio are joint first authors.

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Cappelini, L.T.D., Eugênio, P.F.M., Alberice, J.V. et al. Compost produced from residues of a zoo park improves soil fertility and increases the growth and production of plants. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 4233–4244 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01552-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01552-4

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