Using bioelectrohydrogenesis left-over residues as a future potential fertilizer for soil amendment

Abstract

In this current research, the left-over residues collected from the dark fermentation-microbial electrolysis cells (DF-MEC) integrated system solely biocatalyzed by activated sludge during the bioconversion of the agricultural straw wastes into hydrogen energy, was investigated for its feasibility to be used as a potential alternative biofertilizer to the commonly costly inorganic ones. The results revealed that the electrohydrogenesis left-over residues enriched various plant growth-promoting microbial communities including Enterobacter (8.57%), Paenibacillus (1.18%), Mycobacterium (0.77%), Pseudomonas (0.65%), Bradyrhizobium (0.12%), Azospirillum (0.11%), and Mesorhizobium (0.1%) that are generally known for their ability to produce different essential phytohormones such as indole-3-acetic acid/indole acetic acid (IAA) and Gibberellins for plant growth. Moreover, they also contain both phosphate-solubilizing and nitrogen-fixing microbial communities that remarkably provide an adequate amount of assimilable phosphorus and nitrogen required for enhanced plants or crop growth. Furthermore, macro-, and micronutrients (including N, P, K, etc.) were all analyzed from the residues and detected adequate appreciate concentrations required for plant growth promotions. The direct application of MEC-effluent as fertilizer in this current study conspicuously promoted plant growth (Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato), Capsicum annuum L. (chilli), and Solanum melongena L. (brinjal)) and speeded up flowering and fruit-generating processes. Based on these findings, electrohydrogenesis residues could undoubtedly be considered as a potential biofertilizer. Thus, this technology provides a new approach to agricultural residue control and concomitantly provides a sustainable, cheap, and eco-friendly biofertilizer that could replace the chemical costly fertilizers.