Accelerating the humification of mushroom waste by regulating nitrogen sources composition: Deciphering mechanism...

Regulating nitrogen source composition is efficient approach to accelerate the spent mushroom substrate (SMS) composting process. However, currently, most traditional composting study only focuses on total C/N ratio of initial composting material. Rarely research concerns the effect of carbon or nitrogen components at different degradable level and their corresponding decomposed-substances on humification process. This study deciphers and compares the mechanism of mixed manure-N sources on SMS humification from bioavailability and molecular perspective. Two different biodegradable manure-N sources, cattle manure (CM) and Hainan chicken manure (CH), were added into the SMS composting with the different CM:CH ratio of 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 0:1, respectively. The physicochemical properties and humic substances were determined to evaluate the compost quality. Coupling analysis of spectroscopy, fluorescence, and humic intermediate precursors were conducted to characterizing molecular formation process of humic acid (HA). The results indicated that regulating the carbon-nitrogen nutrient biodegradability of composting material by adding mixed nitrogen sources is an effective strategy to accelerate the SMS humification process. The C1H3 (CM:CH ratio of 1:3) and CH treatments obtained great physicochemical properties and the highest growth rate of HA (31.96% and 27.02%, respectively). The rapid reaction of polysaccharide, ketone, quinone, and amide in DOM (LCP1) might be the key for the fast humification in C1H3 and CH. The polyphenol, reducing sugar and amino acid originated from the labile-carbon-proportion I (LCP1) and recalcitrant-carbon-proportion (RCP), labile-carbon-proportion II (LCP2) and RCP, and labile-nitrogen-proportion I (LNP1), respectively, were the main driving intermediate precursors for the formation of HA. This study deciphers the SMS humification mechanism at molecular level and provides a strategy in accelerating-regulating the composting process. which will be beneficial for enhancing the disposing efficiency of SMS, producing high-quality organic fertilizer, and even popularizing to the similar types of organic waste in practical field.