Yan Miao, Tian Hailin, Song Shuang, Tan Hugh T W, Lee Jonathan T E, Zhang Jingxin, Sharma Pooja, Tiong Yong Wei, Tong Yen Wah
Laboratory of Biomass Bio-chemical Conversion, Guang Zhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China; Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China.
J Environ Manage. 2023 May 15;334:117481. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117481. Epub 2023 Feb 15.
The increasing amount of food waste and the excessive use of mineral fertilizers have caused detrimental impacts on soil, water, and air quality. Though digestate derived from food waste has been reported to partially replace fertilizer, its efficiency requires further improvement. In this study, the effects of digestate-encapsulated biochar were comprehensively investigated based on growth of an ornamental plant, soil characteristics, nutrient leaching and soil microbiome. Results showed that except for biochar, the tested fertilizers and soil additives, i.e., digestate, compost, commercial fertilizer, digestate-encapsulated biochar had positive effects on plants. Especially, the digestate-encapsulated biochar had the best effectiveness as evidenced by 9-25% increase in chlorophyll content index, fresh weight, leaf area and blossom frequency. For the effects of fertilizers or soil additives on soil characteristics and nutrient retention, the digestate-encapsulated biochar leached least N-nutrients (<8%), while the compost, digestate and mineral fertilizer leached up to 25% N-nutrients. All the treatments had minimal effects on the soil properties of pH and electrical conductivity. According to the microbial analysis, the digestate-encapsulated biochar has the comparable role with compost in improving the soil immune system against pathogen infection. The metagenomics coupling with qPCR analysis suggested that digestate-encapsulated biochar boosted the nitrification process and inhibited the denitrification process. This study provides an extensive understanding into the impacts of the digestate-encapsulated biochar on an ornamental plant and offers practical implications for the choice of sustainable fertilizers or soil additives and food-waste digestate management.
食物垃圾数量的不断增加以及矿物肥料的过度使用已对土壤、水和空气质量造成了有害影响。尽管据报道源自食物垃圾的沼渣可部分替代肥料，但其效率仍需进一步提高。在本研究中，基于一种观赏植物的生长、土壤特性、养分淋失和土壤微生物群落，全面研究了沼渣包裹生物炭的影响。结果表明，除生物炭外，所测试的肥料和土壤添加剂，即沼渣、堆肥、商业肥料、沼渣包裹生物炭对植物均有积极影响。特别是，沼渣包裹生物炭效果最佳，叶绿素含量指数、鲜重、叶面积和开花频率增加了9%至25%即为证明。对于肥料或土壤添加剂对土壤特性和养分保持的影响，沼渣包裹生物炭淋失的氮养分最少（<8%），而堆肥、沼渣和矿物肥料淋失的氮养分高达25%。所有处理对土壤pH值和电导率的性质影响最小。根据微生物分析，沼渣包裹生物炭在增强土壤抵抗病原体感染的免疫系统方面与堆肥具有类似作用。宏基因组学与定量PCR分析表明，沼渣包裹生物炭促进了硝化过程并抑制了反硝化过程。本研究深入了解了沼渣包裹生物炭对观赏植物的影响，并为可持续肥料或土壤添加剂的选择以及食物垃圾沼渣管理提供了实际参考。
