Food waste composting - Is it really so simple as stated in scientific literature? – A case study

Effect of Food Waste Compost (FWC) and its Non-Aerated Fermented Extract (NFCE) on Seeds Germination and Plant Growth

“…, reflecting its maturity and conformity to the compost quality standards described by Mustin,[33]. In contrast, Voběrková et al[2] showed an acidic pH of food waste compost around 6 that would be caused by organic acidic metabolism. The same authors found high C/N ratio of 20, explained by the high carbon and nitrogen contents in FWC and in FWC added with biochar, Singh and Nain[37] revealed that hundreds of fungi are also capable of degrading lignocellulose materials.They mentioned three major types of fungi known to reside in the dead woods containing the lignocellulose.…”

“…In parallel, the seedlings height, the stems diameters and the leaves number of all the experimented seeds were more important in the soil amended by 25% of the FWC (B0) compared to the soil used alone (A0), as well as the substrate (soil 75% + 25% FWC) (B). In contrast, the food waste compost prepared by Voběrková et al [2] and and Kucbel et al [12] showed a total phytotoxic on the experimented plants. On the other hand, when soil amended by 25% of compost was irrigated with fermented compost extract (B), the seedlings were shorter and with a reduced leaves number compared to all the other growth conditions.…”

“…Many treatment solutions of food waste were reported, such as animal feeding [9], anaerobic/aerobic digestion [10], composting [2] [11] [12], pyrolysis [13], gasification, incineration and landfill disposal [14]. The choice of the technology to be applied depends on criteria in relation with the waste typology as well as the available means.…”

“…Therefore, the regulation and consoil properties and availability of nutrients that would activate the microbial flora[26] [31][34] [38] [39][40]. In 2020, Voběrková et al[2] mentioned high enzymatic activities in FWC, when used alone or supplemented with biochar and sawdust such as deshydrogenases, proteases, β-D-glucosidases, phosphatases and arylsulphatases during 35 days of composts' maturation.…”

Fire Effects on Soils – A Pilot Scale Study on the Soils Affected by Wildfires in the Czech Republic

“…The seed germination capacity, which is compared with the reference OECD soil, is essential in the phytotoxicity test. On the basis of the germination capacity, one can decide whether the tested compost inhibits or stimulates seed germination (Voběrková et al, 2020). Figure 3 shows the effect of burnt soil phytotoxicity using various amendments on the growth inhibition/stimulation of the Lepidium sativum L. sample, as compared to the OECD soil sample.…”