Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.2
The proximate composition and mineral contents of raw POME (Habib et al.
1997
)
Major constituents
Composition
(%)
Macro-
elements
Composition
(µg/g dry weight)
Micro-
elements
Composition
(µg/g dry
weight)
Moisture
6.99 ± 0.14
K
8951.55 ± 256.45
Fe
11.08 ± 2.20
Crude protein
12.75 ± 1.30
Na
94.57 ± 6.45
Cu
10.76 ± 1.04
Crude lipid
10.21 ± 1.24
Ca
1650.09 ± 160.45
Zn
17.58 ± 2.10
Ash
14.88 ± 1.35
Mg
911.95 ± 95.50
Mn
38.81 ± 3.65
Carbohydrate
29.55 ± 2.44
P
14377.38 ± 1206.88
Mo
6.45 ± 0.40
Nitrogen free
26.39 ± 2.33
S
13.32 ± 1.45
Cr
4.02 ± 0.44
Total carotene
0.019 ± 0.001
Co
2.40 ± 0.35
Ni
1.31 ± 0.30
Se
12.32 ± 1.35
Si
10.50 ± 1.80
Sn
2.30 ± 0.30
Al
16.60 ± 1.44
B
7.60 ± 0.60
As
9.09 ± 0.65
V
0.12 ± 0.02
Some studies showed that the vermicomposting technique for POME and POMF
is a good alternative sustainable management of palm oil mill effluent absorbed
with fiber effective treatment of POME and transform it into organic fertilizer (Ta-
ble
11.2
).
The inappropriate dumping of huge mass of agro-industrial waste creates eco-
nomic as well as environmental issues. Soil health could be improved through utili-
zation of these wastes as they got organic matter and essential elements (Khan et al.
2009
). The proper reuse of organic wastes in soil can alleviate ecological risk caused
by intensive farming (Ordonez et al.
2006
). The microbial technology composting
is frequently applied to alleviate different kinds of wastes. Through composting,
volume and weight of sludge could be minimized (Abd-Rahman et al.
2003
). It can
decrease the mixture volume by 40-50 %, efficiently destroy the pathogens through
the metabolic heat generated in the thermophilic phase, degrade hazardous organic
pollutants and deliver a product that is used as a soil amendment or fertilizer (Ep-
stein
1997
). Furthermore, the compost waste is easy to handle, can be consumed as
soil amendment, thus generate extra profits (Abd-Rahman et al.
2003
). Composting
is also practiced for recycle of waste that form chemically stable substances which
can be used as soil nutrients and improving soil structure (Castaldi et al.
2005
).
The composting is change of plant and animal organic substances into manure
(Bharadwaj
1995
). The end product is humus with good amount of plant nutrients and
the by-products are CO
2
, H
2
O and heat (Abbasi and Ramasamy
1999
). The aerobic
microbes utilize organic matter as a substrate throughout the composting procedure.
The substrate is decayed by these microbes, enabling it to break/convert in simpler
products (Epstein
1997
; Ipek et al.
2002
). In composting process, compounds with
C and N are changed during consecutive activities of various microorganisms to let
organic matter be stable to look like humus substance (Pare et al.
1999
).
