Some biological parameters in the evaluation of the stability and maturity of two compost

Abstract

Composting represents an alternative for the use of organic waste by transforming it into an organic amendment that improves the structure and fertility of soils. As it is a microbiological process, the objective was to analyze some biological parameters in the evaluation of the stability and maturity of two compost. Two compost was made with waste generated at the Simón Bolívar University one obtained from organic waste generated in the dining room and the other from plant remains from the pruning of the gardens. The parameters evaluated were temperature and microbial count, expressed as colony-forming units per gram of compost for yeast, and for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria (in turn classifying the bacteria by the Gram staining method), as well as the germination index determined by the phytotoxicity test. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that: the temperature of the compost pile is a good indicator of the evolution of the composting process, as it is closely associated with biological activity indicating the stages of the process, in the compost analyzed, the counting of microorganisms allowed to evaluate them as stable, the bacterial classification by Gram staining, represented a good indicator of the successions that occur in the composting process and was useful to help the classification of the bacteria present; the phytotoxicity test corroborated the degree of maturity and stability of the studied compost.