Decomposition of tangerine and pomegranate wastes in water and soil: characterisation of physicochemical parameters and global microbial activities under laboratory conditions

Abstract

ABSTRACT In most scientific research, interest is given to heterogeneous green household waste collected from landfills. This paper reports a study of the enzymatic dynamics of green household waste separately decomposed in water and soil. The study showed that the highest dehydrogenase activity (800.53 μg of TFP[tri phenyl formazan]/hr/gdw) was noted for the digested pomegranate waste in the soil. The overall hydrolytic activity (0.12 μmol of hydrolysed FDA[fluorescein di acetate]/hr/gdw), and the carbon dioxide (CO2) release were higher (777.20 μg of CO2/hr/gdw) in digestion in water. For tangerine waste digested in water, the CO2 release (918.96 µg of CO2/hr/gdw) and overall hydrolytic activity (0.19 μmol of hydrolysed FDA/hr/gdw) were most pronounced. The values of physicochemical parameters were generally lower in tangerine waste than in pomegranate waste, and lower in water decomposition than in soil decomposition.