Physicochemical Changes and Microbiome Associations during Vermicomposting of Winery Waste

Ioanna Karapantzou, Gregoria Mitropoulou, Ioanna Prapa, Dimitra Papanikolaou, Vasileios Charovas and Yiannis Kourkoutas ()
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Ioanna Karapantzou: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Gregoria Mitropoulou: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Ioanna Prapa: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Dimitra Papanikolaou: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Vasileios Charovas: Evritika Kellaria S.A., 68200 Orestiada, Greece
Yiannis Kourkoutas: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Annually, the wine industry produces high amounts of waste that can be toxic if disposed of without pretreatment. Vermicomposting is an efficient and low-cost method of decomposing organic matter using earthworms under controlled conditions. The organic substrate used in the vermicomposting process affects microbial populations and reflects the dynamics of enzymatic activity, decomposition of organic matter, and nitrogen transformations. However, the microbiome associations during the whole process are still unexplored. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate physicochemical, enzymatic, microbial, and microbiome activities during vermicomposting of winery waste. In this vein, a rectangular vermireactor with Eisenia andrei and Eisenia fetida earthworms, loaded with winery waste, was used. At the end of the process, the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio was decreased, the total nitrogen was increased, the pH was neutralized and excess enzymatic activities were recorded. The bacterial and fungal phyla detected by next-generation sequencing analysis identified Armatimonadetes , Bacteriodetes , Candidatus saccharibacteria , Chloroflexi , Cyanobacteria , Planctomycetes , and Proteobacteria and Ascomycota , Basidiomycota , Chytridiomycota , Entomophthoromycota , Glomeromycota , and Mucoromycota , respectively. Physicochemical and microbial changes occurring during vermicomposting of winery waste, along with the microbiome diversity at the beginning and end of the process, may lead to a better understanding of winery-waste biotransformation into effective biofertilizer.

Keywords: biofertilizer; grape marc; microbiome associations; vermicompost; winery waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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