Exploring chemical analysis of vermicompost of various oil palm fibre wastes

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the physical and chemical properties of different oil palm wastes, viz. empty fruit bunch (EFB), oil palm frond (OPF) and oil palm trunk (OPT). A study (84 days duration) was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of an exotic earthworm species (epigeic-African Nightcrawler (Eudrilus euginae)) for the decomposition of different types of oil palm wastes (EFB, OPT and OPF) into valuable vermicompost. The decrease in earthworm's biomass gain for EFB, OPT and OPF may be due to exhaustion of worm feed in vermicomposters. The percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in vermicompost was found to increase while pH and total organic carbon declined as a function of the vermicomposting period. The vermicompost obtained showed an increase in heavy metal content for all the reactors, but levels were still in the range of nutrient in the vermicompost. The data reveal that vermicomposting (using African Nightcrawler) is a suitable technology for the decomposition of oil palm wastes, especially EFB into value-added material.

A potential bioconversion of empty fruit bunches into organic fertilizer using Eudrilus eugeniae

“…The lowest growth rate of earthworm was recorded in the treatment supplied with empty fruit bunches alone (0.21 g/worm/day), and the highest was recorded in both treatments of E2:D1 and E1:D2 (0.54 g/worm/ day). It is hypothesized that the suitable proportion of cow dung and empty fruit bunches provided earthworms with sufficient amounts of easily degradable organic matter, which created an ideal environment for the growth and reproduction of earthworms (Nahrul Hayawin et al 2010). An initial increase in biomass was followed by stabilization, and later, weight loss was observed in most of the treatments after 12 weeks of vermicomposting process (Table 3).…”

“…Nahrul Hayawin et al (2010) carried out a research on vermicomposting of empty fruit bunches, oil palm trunk and oil palm frond Stocking density of treatment 1:6 (earthworm/ media) ratio using E. eugeniae with a precomposting (the duration of pretreatment was not stated), and their results showed that empty fruit bunches were the best substrates for E. eugeniae. The result obtained by Nahrul Hayawin et al (2010) showed that after 84 days of vermicomposting, C/N ratio of the vermicomposts was still remained high at about 36.49, indicating that the produced vermicomposts were not matured enough to be used as a suitable fertilizer because plants cannot assimilate nitrogen unless the C/N ratio is in the order of 20 or less (Khwairakpam and Bhargava 2009). Earlier, Sabrina et al (2009) carried out a research on vermicomposting of empty fruit bunches using three species of earthworms, namely Eisenia fetida, Pontoscolex corethrutus and Amynthas rodericensis, but only E. fetida was able to survive in empty fruit bunches.…”

“…Furthermore, vermicompost is less likely than synthetic fertilizer to produce salinity stress in the soil container (Chaoui et al 2003). This technology has been used to stabilize biodegradable wastes generated from different industries such as oil palm industry (Sabrina et al 2009;Nahrul Hayawin et al 2010), olive oil industry (Masciandaro et al 2010), paper mill industry , soybean oil industry (Lim et al 2011), sugar cane industry (Suthar 2010b) and others.…”

Industrial wastes and sludges management by vermicomposting

“…The study revealed that the bioconversion of WOC is possible by vermicomposting, although pre-composting of WOC reduced toxic compounds (polyphenols) and showed more initial stability than fresh wet olive cake (Table 3). Nahrul Hayawin et al (2009) conducted an 84 days study to evaluate the efficiency of Eudrilus eugeniae for the decomposition of different types of oil palm wastes, viz., empty fruit bunch (EFB), oil palm frond (OPF) and oil palm trunk (OPT) into valuable vermicompost. They reported that at the end of vermicomposting, organic C content decreased slightly in the vermicompost as compared to the initial level in all substrates and nitrogen content was greater in final products than in initial substrates.…”

A review on composting of oil palm biomass

“…Nahrul Hayawin et al (2010) studied the physicochemical changes of an oil palm biomass during vermicomposting. The data indicated that vermicomposting of an oil palm biomass, such as EFB, OPT, and OPF, is an appropriate method for recycling the oil palm wastes to a value-added vermicompost.…”