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Physicochemical, including spectroscopic, and biological analyses during composting of green tea waste and rice bran

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Abstract

The aims of this study were to monitor the changes in physicochemical, including spectroscopic, and biological characteristics during composting of green tea waste–rice bran compost (GRC) and to define parameters suitable for evaluating the stability of GRC. Compost pile temperature reflected the initiation and stabilization of the composting process. The pH, electrical conductivity, NO3 −-N content, and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio were measured as chemical properties of the compost. The color (CIELAB variables), humification index (the absorption ratio Q 4/6 = A 472 / A 664 of 0.5 M NaOH extracts), absorption at 665 nm of acetone extracts, and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra were measured to evaluate the organic matter transformation; germination of komatsuna or tomato seeds was measured to assess the potential phytotoxicity of composting materials during composting. No single parameter was capable of giving substantial information on the composting process, the nutrient balance, phytotoxicity, and organic matter decomposition. The FT-IR spectra at 3,300, 2,930, 2,852, and 1,065 cm−1 provided information on the molecular transformation of GRC during composting and they decreased over the composting. Most of the assayed parameters showed no further change after about 90 days of composting suggesting that GRC can be used for agricultural purposes after this period.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan for providing a scholarship to Mohammad Ashik Iqbal Khan and thankful to the JA Beverage, Saga Co. Ltd. for providing green tea waste. We are also grateful to Prof. Dr. Kazuo Morita, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University and Dr. Takashi Someya, Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Japan for their valuable suggestions in the writing of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Kuboizumi, Saga, 849-0903, Japan

    Mohammad Ashik Iqbal Khan, Kihachi Ueno, Sakae Horimoto, Fuminori Komai, Kinji Tanaka & Yoshitaka Ono

  2. The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

    Mohammad Ashik Iqbal Khan, Kihachi Ueno, Fuminori Komai, Kinji Tanaka & Yoshitaka Ono

Authors
  1. Mohammad Ashik Iqbal Khan
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  2. Kihachi Ueno
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  3. Sakae Horimoto
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  4. Fuminori Komai
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  5. Kinji Tanaka
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  6. Yoshitaka Ono
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Correspondence to Kihachi Ueno.

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Khan, M.A.I., Ueno, K., Horimoto, S. et al. Physicochemical, including spectroscopic, and biological analyses during composting of green tea waste and rice bran. Biol Fertil Soils 45, 305–313 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-008-0335-x

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