Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer ISSN:0367-6315(Print) 2288-2162(Online) 한국토양비료학회 학회지

Treatment of food waste is becoming a big issue due to their significant quantities. Composting could be an effective alternative for food waste management which could be used as soil conditioner or fertilizer with little concerns about heavy metals and pathogens. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of food waste on Chinese cabbage growth and soil properties. 9 different treatments (two livestock manures, two food wastes, two livestock manures + chemical fertilizer, two food wastes + chemical fertilizer, and control) were applied to Chinese cabbage. All treatments were carried out in 3 replicates. We measured leaf length, leaf width, fresh weight, dry weight, and leaf greenness of Chinese cabbage. Treatment of one of food waste composts significantly increased leaf length and leaf width of Chinese cabbage by 28.6, 26.6, 67.7, and 59.9%, respectively, in comparison to those of control, while no significant differences for leaf greenness were shown. Application of food waste compost resulted in significant increase of EC, available P2O5, CEC, organic matter, and exchangeable cations. However, further researches are needed to reduce NaCl content of food waste.

Chinese cabbage growth with different treatments of compost.

^†The different letters are significantly (P < 0.05) different according to Duncan’s multiple test.^‡LC1, Livestock compost; LC2, Livestock compost; FLC, Food waste and Livestock compost; FWC,Food waste compost.