A Bioaugmentation Strategy for Promoting the Humification Process during Composting by Microbial Inoculants: A Review

Abstract

Stimulating compost humification is an important way for carbon sequestration and that in itself is significant, especial under the context of carbon neutrality. However, a longer humification cycle occurs in the traditional composting. Microbial inoculants markedly increase the formation of humus during composting, which attracts extensive attention. Microbial inoculants as a bioaugmentation technology, their perfermances on compost humification are significantly influenced by material nature, microbial species, inoculation dosages, and inoculation methods. So far, the effects of microbial inoculants on compost maturity and microbial diversity are known though previous published reviews, while the overview of their regulatory role in humus formation still be relatively absent. This review innovatively summarized the promotion effects of microbial inoculants on humification process and related biological mechanisms during composting. Lastly, further research on the development of microbial inoculants and the optimization of inoculation methods will promote humification process and produce high quality compost.