Changes in nitrogen resources with increases in temperature during production of mushroom compost

✍ Scribed by J. -M. Savoie; J. -M. Olivier; J. Laborde

• Book ID: 104730060
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 549 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-0972
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00340215

✦ Synopsis

The rise in temperature is an important event during the composting of lignocellulosic materials and has to be controlled and regulated to improve the biodegradation. Phase I mushroom composts were incubated under environmentally controlled conditions. When the temperature was pre-set at 65°C and then later at around 80°C, the microbial respiration and the biodegradations were hardly affected. However residual activities due to thermoresistant bacteria were still measured after 68 h at a constant temperature of 80°C. Significant changes in nitrogen resources were observed: loss of nitrogen from microbial products, an increase in the proportion of nitrogen in non-hydrolysable and stable forms, and an increase in volatilisation of ammonia. These changes were mainly due to physico-chemical mechanisms associated with disturbances in the structure of the microbial community.