Conservation Analysis of Food Waste Composting: Insight from the Nutrient Content and Compost Quality Index (CQI) Assessment

¹ Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
² Center of Excellence Micro Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
³ Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Arau 01000, Perlis, Malaysia
⁴ Center for Environmental Sustainability and Water Security (IPASA), Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia
⁵ Faculty of Engineering and Life Science, Universiti Selangor (UNISEL), Bestari Jaya 45600, Selangor, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: aeslina@uthm.edu.my

Abstract

Compost has a critical role in preserving and conserving soil health and increasing soil fertility, both of which are essential for sustainable agricultural systems. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of effective microorganisms (EM) in composting vegetable waste (VW), fruit waste (FW), and mixed food waste (MFW) using the Takakura Composting Method. During the 30-day composting period, nutrient content, including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), potassium (K), carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, pH, and phytotoxicity as measured by germination index (GI), were evaluated. The compost quality index (CQI) was also used to evaluate the quality of the compost. The results showed that all VW, FW and MFW had pH values, TN, TP, K and C/N ratios that were within the acceptable range for mature and high-quality compost. The GI of VW and MFW were both above 80%, while FW’s GI was slightly phytotoxic at 79.3%. Based on the CQI score, MFW was found to be a very good compost variant, trailed by VW and FW. The results show that EM can accelerate the production of high-quality compost, which benefits conservation efforts.