880 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.

9 (3&4), July-October 2011

www.world-food.net
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.9 (3&4): 880-885. 2011
WFL Publisher
Science and Technology
Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980
Helsinki, Finland
e-mail: info@world-food.net
Received 24 June 2011, accepted 3 October 2011.
Co-composting of palm oil mill wastes
C. Y. Yeoh
1
, N. L. Chin
1
* and C. S. Tan
2

1
Department of Process and Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang,
Selangor, Malaysia.
2
Biotechnology Research Centre,Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute,
43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. * e-mail: chinnl@eng.upm.edu.my
Abstract
Co-composting is one of the important bio-waste treatments in the palm oil industry for achieving sustainable process and zero waste. However,
improper conditions of composting may cause several problems such as gas emission, bad odour, low quality product, production delay and high handling
cost. Enhancing the efficiency of waste composting becomes a vital issue to overcome these problems. This review provides information on the
practices and developments related to co-composting of the palm oil mill waste. The description on a typical palm oil mill process and the wastes
generated, i.e. empty fruit bunch and palm oil mill effluent, as composting substrates are given. The common windrow composting system is
described. The recent venture of using microorganisms in composting processes are also covered under the pretext of several researchers interpretation
that composting can be accelerated by the introduction of microorganism to the process through its influence on the physical, dynamic and biological
behaviours of organic material. The criteria of choosing functional microbes for fast composting are discussed.
Key words: Co-composting, palm oil mill waste, empty fruit bunch, functional microbe, windrow composting.
Introduction
At present, composting is a waste treatment method performed
by palm oil industry as an approach to zero waste process. The
two main palm oil mill wastes, which are the empty fruit bunch
(EFB) and palm oil mill effluent (POME), are suitable substrates
for co-composting. Both wastes are of plant origin and do not
create harmful effect as the chemical waste does. In the past,
factories dumped the wastes to the nearby land without pre-
treatment. By treating this waste as trash, the nutrients in these
organic materials are being thrown away. Furthermore, this land
filling option has detrimental effects on the environment. The
disposed organic wastes would simply rot quickly and this
produces toxic effect on soil, stream water and air, and increases
global temperature. In achieving a sustainable process of palm
oil, composting becomes the alternative of its bio-waste treatment.
By converting these bio-wastes into compost, the nutrients in
waste can be harnessed and potentially utilized as a valuable soil
amendment, hence creating a zero waste process.
Composting, being a biological decomposition process has
many advantages as well as disadvantages like any biological
systems. Composting systems have the advantages of using lower
technology equipment, simple operation outlay, and less
undesirable impacts upon the quality of environment. However,
the limitations of systems are often attributed to the slow rate
of processing and its unpredictability. The understanding of
composting process through the transformation of organic matter
and the evaluation of compost maturity are essential in achieving
an effective compost production. With many analytical methods
being determined, the increase of composting efficiency is still
the main issue to be developed and researched
36
. The efficiency
of composting refers to a shorter production time and better
compost quality. Both are the current motives of fulfilling large
feedstock of the palm oil mill waste. Fig. 1 shows that the number
of researches conducted on waste composting and palm oil waste
independently have increased through the years but specific
research on palm oil waste composting is rather scarce.
Palm Oil Mill Waste
Understanding the quantity and quality of waste is the first step
in designing a manageable composting process. The EFB and
POME are by-products from palm oil extraction. The extraction
method has not changed from the past, only the equipment used
has become more sophisticated and particularly different from
one factory to another. The extraction process is performed
within few hours after harvesting of oil palm fruit bunches. Fig.2
shows a simplified diagram of palm oil extraction steps and its by-
products. Firstly, the fresh fruit bunches undergo sterilization.
The fruit bunches are steamed under high pressure to sterilize,
loosen and soften the fruits from the bunch stalks. The fruits are
stripped from the bunch stalks in a large rotating cage. Then, the
fruits are digested and pressed to obtain crude palm oil. One ton
of fresh fruit bunches usually produce about 0.45-0.50 ton of crude
palm oil
13
. The solid waste including the empty fruit bunches
(EFB) and mesocarp fibres are conveyed for shredding. Around
0.23-0.25 ton of EFB per ton of fresh fruit bunch is produced
24
.
Approximately 0.65 ton of POME per ton of fresh fruit bunches is
generated from various process points such as clarification sludge,
sterilization condensates, fruit washing water, hydro cyclone drain-
off, various tank and decanters drain
13
. The pros are no chemical
or solvents are needed in the extraction of palm oil making its by-
products safe from undesired matters.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.9 (3&4), July-October 2011
881
Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB)
The empty fruit bunches (EFB) is the main solid waste from palm
oil extraction. Together with other solid waste such as the
mesocarp fibres (from pressed fruits) and kernel shells (from fruit
kernels), they are usually used as boiler fuels for the steam turbines
to produce steam for sterilization of fruit and for generation of
electricity. The EFB, as a lignocellulosic rich crop residue is suitable
for many kinds of applications. EFB can be
converted to bio-plastic, pulp, source of
enzymes, hydrogen and animal feed
22
. Sumathi
et al.
22
reported that the EFB were re-used in
the industry to produce bio-oil, biodiesel,
chemical compounds, and microorganisms.
However, the demand of EFB re-use by these
industrial processes is still limited.
Nevertheless, these processes will again create
another type of waste and introduce release of
greenhouse gas during the transportation of
the biomass. Composting, being not the only
choice, however, offers the advantage of zero waste as the EFB
can be used as a nutrient source for the nearby plantation soils.
EFB is a preferred source as composting materials. EFB has
high porosity, water holding capacity and consequently high
nutrient holding capacity; these characteristics are suitable
features for aerobic microbial composting. Tables 1 and 2 list the
properties of EFB and POME from most recent researches.
Although the element values of EFB may vary slightly among
researchers reports due to its dependence on the plant growth
condition and factory handling procedure, they remain to be in
appropriate ranges. The researchers and practitioners, therefore,
should anticipate some difference in the quality of composting
feedstock when obtained from different sources.
Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the colloidal slurry of water, oil
and suspended solids that comprised mainly cellulose from the
fruits. The amount of POME estimated is three times more than
the production amount of crude palm oil. POME has a high content
of organic matter with levels of biological oxygen demand (BOD)
from 2,500 to 35,000 mg/l and chemical oxygen demand (COD)
between 1,460 and 38,840 mg/l on average
13, 37
. Due to its hygienic
instability and immaturity of organic matter, fresh POME should
not be introduced directly into the soil environment. If POME is
applied to agricultural soil, it will soon cause nitrogen and oxygen
deficiency in the soil and turn out to be phytotoxic to plants.
Most palm oil mills in Malaysia have adapted the ponding
system for the treatment of their POME effluents. POME is
biologically treated using the effluent ponds before being
discharged into watercourses. Such ponding system consists of
a number of ponds for anaerobic, aerobic and facultative digestion
of POME. This system is capable of producing a final discharge
with a BOD of less than 100 mg/l
13
. This treatment process,
however, could be effective and acceptable for countries or states

POME
Crude
Palm Oil
Fresh
Fruit
Bunches
Sterilization Extraction
Digestion
POME
Solid
Waste
(EFB)
Figure 2. A simple diagram simulating the by-production of EFB and
POME in a palm oil extraction process.
Year
R
e
c
o
r
d

c
o
u
n
t

(
n
u
m
b
e
r
o
f

a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
)

(a)
R
e
c
o
r
d

c
o
u
n
t

(
n
u
m
b
e
r
o
f

a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
)

R
e
c
o
r
d

c
o
u
n
t

(
n
u
m
b
e
r
o
f

a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
)

Year
Year
Figure 1. The number of research articles increases from recent years
searched through ISI web of knowledge by Thomson Reuters (a) on
waste composting (b) on palm oil waste, and (c) palm oil waste composting.
(b)
(a)
(c)
Element (% wt/wt) Source
1 2 3 4
Cellulose 38.3 59.7 52.56.5
Hemicellulose 35.3 22.1 28.81.1
Lignin 22.1 18.1 17.13.6
Carbon 49.07 46.64 53.01.5
Hydrogen 6.48 5.66
Nitrogen 0.7 1.73 0.90.1
Sulphur <0.10 0.10 1.10.3
Oxygen 38.29 39.46
Moisture 7.95 245.8
Volatiles 87.3 73.7
Ash 1.6 3.02 6.6
Table 1. Key properties of EFB (readings taken from literature).
Note:1 Yong et al.
42
, 2 Abdullah and Gerhauser
2
, 3 Luangkiattikhun et al.
17
, 4 Baharuddin et al.
3

Source
Element 1 2 3 4
Moisture (% w/w) 95 94 95 93
Total solid (% w/w) 4 5.2 3.2-6.2 7.8
Oil (mg/l) 104050 4000-6000 20-34
pH 4.0 7.5 4.7
BOD (mg/l) 2500-35000 25000 1000-2600
COD (mg/l) 1460-38840 50000 26000-37000
Nitrogen (% w/w) 1.03 2.3 1.9
Carbon (% w/w) 19.0 46.37
Note: 1 Igwe and Onyegbado
13
, 2 Sumathi et al.
26
, 3 Baharuddin et al.
3
, 4 Yeoh et al.
41
.
Table 2. Key properties of POME (readings taken from the literature).
882 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.9 (3&4), July-October 2011
which have great system to treat their watercourses and provisions
of pipe water to the citizens. For people who rely on river water,
this effluent discards from the POME ponding system will not
only lead to watercourse pollution but risk their citizens health.
The handling of POME in treatment ponds needs careful
attention. Fresh POME is very rich in nitrogen and in the early
stage of treatment, the nitrogen in POME in the anaerobic pond
will be rapidly mineralized into proteins. This leads to the
production of ammonia and methane at which, if without a proper
gas collection system, the emission of methane gas will cause
global warming and the ammonia gas (NH
3
) will give odor
problem. Loss of nitrogen diminishes POMEs value as a fertilizer.
As such, fresh POME is recommended and often suggested for
use in developing new bio-products. Through biotechnological
advances, fresh POME can be reused as a fermentation substrate
in the production of various metabolites, fertilizers and animal
feeds
13
.
The sourcing and adoption of sustainable organic inputs and
resources are essential in establishing a composting project in
the oil palm industry. The fresh POME produced simultaneously
with the EFB can be mixed together and further degraded into
compost. Thambirajah et al.
30
have added animal manure to palm
press fibres to produce a good quality compost. Although, animal
manure can be a better source of nutrients and microorganisms,
the manure resource could not be enough for the large amounts
of EFB produced each year. Likewise, transporting either EFB
or manure causes the emission of greenhouse gases. Thus,
POME becomes the easier moisture and nutrient source for
sustainable EFB composting.
Windrow Composting System for Palm Oil Mill Waste
The windrow composting is the simplest way of composting
system, i.e. by piling the materials placed in a long row and then
aerating regularly. The windrowing site consists of not only the
large plot of compost row; there is a large concrete floor to
facilitate maintenance, movement of equipment, and to control
leaching
4
. The area where composting takes place is commonly
referred as the compost pad. The size of the pad depends on the
volume of material and the windrow shape. The dimensions of
windrow are determined by the type of equipment used for
ventilation.
Open site windrows composting is adopted in regions where
relatively milder climates prevail. The windrow enclosed with
plastic film is satisfactory in the absence of unusual
circumstances such as storm, snow, hot and dry weather. In
Indonesia and Malaysia (main palm oil producers), the compost
plant design has to consider the prevention of tropical rain and
extreme hot sun. The windrow compost has to be protected under
roof, cement floor and wall. Enclosed system is more effective for
control purposes
33
. An example of windrow semi-open composting
plant is presented in Fig. 3. Window aeration is performed by
mechanical turning or static air injection. Using a turner or mixer
has more advantages than using static air injection as it allows
separation of EFB lumps and the windrow is homogenized. Warm
air rises in the pile and cold air slots in through the turning process.
With a porous structure allowing air passing through freely in the
EFB, piping for aeration is not necessary
25
. The turning mechanism
also advances in maintaining a porous structure in windrow for
the replenishment of oxygen used by the microbes compared to
static air blow. Apart from the constructed windrow site and its
mechanical aerator, the overall compost production needs some
other machinery support. The EFB or substrate for composting
needs a shredding and sorting machine. Reducing the substrate
size to 2-3 cm could help to optimize the decomposition rate
32, 41
.
Tractor is used to collect the shredded EFB and to form EFB
windrow. The spraying of POME onto EFB row needs a piping
system.
In the review of a composting process, a complete process
usually undergoes three stages: the mesophilic, thermophilic and
curing stages. During the mesophilic stage, the temperature of
EFB row rises gradually. Upon reaching above 45
o
C, it will maintain
for a period of time and this is considered the thermophilic phase
8
.
Turning is scheduled to release the heat and to provide air in the
EFB row. The compost will then cool down to its curing stage,
whereby turning or addition of POME is stopped
3
. The compost
is stored until mechanical screening and drying. After screening,
the compost is ready for application on plantation soil or packed
for sales. Any compost which did not pass through the screener
will be returned to the windrow for further decomposition. Fig. 4
shows a simple diagram of EFB windrow composting procedure.
The manufacturers who adopt composting instead of other
waste management alternatives must understand that this
technique also has some significant drawbacks. When utilizing
composting strategies involving minimum technology, the
production time for making finished compost can be extensive
thus requiring large tracts of secluded land. Furthermore, the
feedstock characteristics, processing equipment and the overall
throughput are all directly correlated to the amount of land required,
initial capital outlay, product quality and continual operational
costs. Lack of advanced understanding on the requirements can
lead to throughput restrictions, process bottlenecks, cash flow
problems and pollution.
To overcome unexpected results of the EFB composting
process, researchers have studied various methods to improve
it
3, 20, 21, 30, 40
. Baharuddin et al.
3
investigated the quality of co-
composting of EFB with partially treated POME on a pilot scale.
Vermicomposting of EFB was evaluated by Sabrina et al.
20
. Static
aerated reactor was used by Yaser et al.
40
to compost palm oil mill
sludge with sawdust. Salates et al.
21
added ripe compost to the

Figure 3. Semi-open windrow composting system (taken during trial 1,
July 2008, Sedenak Composting Plant, Malaysia).
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.9 (3&4), July-October 2011
883
mass of EFB and found that it gave a significant effect on the
degradation speed. These researches, however, did not show that
composting of EFB could be shorten to below 60 days. Further
researches were conducted by trying different methods or
treatments to achieve a shorter composting period.
In other type of waste composting, usage of additives has been
a popular method to achieve fast composting. Wei et al.
36
reported
that compost or biofertilizer could be produced with the inoculation
of appropriate functional microbes which increase the
decomposition rate, shorten the maturity period and improve the
compost (or biofertilizer) quality. Xi et al.
38
found that the
degradation rate of municipal solid waste was highest at 15.671 g/
kg.h after seeding with a mixture inoculum of A (Bacillus spp.)
and B (cellulolytic strains, i.e. Trichoderma, Streptomyces and
white-rot fungi). The efficiency of microbe inoculums on EFB
composting therefore is a worthy subject to be explored.
Besides on biological aspect, a more expensive investment for
a speeded up composting process in terms of development on
mechanical system can also be viable. For example, industrial in-
vessel composting systems or plants can be constructed for
composting the palm oil mill wastes. In-vessel composting is
popularly used for food waste composting
1, 5, 15
.
Role of Microorganisms in Composting
Composting is an extraordinarily complex process which
involves microbiological degradation, mass and energy transfer
phenomena and coexistence of non-steady state conditions.
Among the many parameters developed to measure the efficiency
of composting processes are based on the survival of key
degradation agents, the microorganisms. Considering that
composting is an aerobic process, the amount of oxygen which is
required by microorganism to stabilize the organic wastes must
be kept at its optimum level. Other factors for microorganism
survival are sufficient nutrient, space, water and air. These basic
requirements have inspired researchers to create measurable
parameters, for instance, water content, oxygen content, carbon
and nitrogen ratio, other nutrient element contents, particle size
of substrate, size of windrow, temperature, pH, electrical
conductivity, humification ratio, etc.
In co-composting, the key decomposers are the various types
of microorganisms and insects. They are capable of converting
material to a more digested, fine and ready nutrient to be absorbed
by the root of plants. The primary decomposers first
consume the easily decomposable substances and
induce a rise of temperature. Then, the thermophilic
decomposers propagate and use up the primary
decomposers left over nutrient. After the thermophilic
stage, the mesophilic decomposers will take over and
give signs of decreasing temperature. The composting
stops once the compost temperature reaches the ambient
temperature. The organic matter is completely
mineralized. The final products obtained including carbon
dioxide, water, minerals and stabilized organic matter are
beneficial to plant growth and other organisms. The
organic substrates may also attract compost worms,
mites, millipedes and other fauna to develop and act as
catalysts. The EFB vermi-composting is an example of
such approach
20
.
In short, understanding factors that affect composting
is essential in evaluating the performance of an overall composting
process. The survival factors of key degradation agents are to be
considered in the selection of a suitable composting process
design. Ignorance or failure to select the right system satisfying
the composting needs often lead to a sophisticated and unsatisfied
process. The available composting researches are proves of good
and well predicted progress in composting if conditions are known
and the design factors of the system are not exceeded
14
.
Functional Microorganisms as Inoculums for EFB Composting
To date, the time required for EFB composting is simply too long
and it is unable to satisfy the daily waste produced by the palm oil
mill. Previous researchers have conducted different methods of
EFB composting
21, 23, 29
, and these processes took at least two
months. They also require large compost pad, high labour energy,
high material handling and equipment cost. In shortening the time
of composting, compost substrates could be added with some
supplements to enhance the decomposition process. A shorter
production time could minimize the space requirement in a mill,
and make easy and efficient system to comply the daily input of
palm oil mill wastes.
The use of additive to speed up the composting process or to
improve compost quality has been a controversial subject in this
research field. At times, addition of improper chemical component
may bring side effect to the biodegradability of compost. Yadav
39

reported that supplements with molasses had lead to a better
protein gain but not a better biodegradation. Decomposers may
referentially utilize the supplemental ingredient instead of the
organic component in substrate causing low decomposition of
organic component in substrate and increase the degradation of
supplemental ingredient.
However, some microorganisms have been discovered as useful
cultures in composting process as they act as biocatalysts in the
composting process in biological waste treatments. Through
microbial metabolic, the pollutants waste is transformed into
environmental friendly products. The microorganisms showed
good performance when used as a starter culture in shortening
the length of composting period
6, 11, 18, 27, 38
. Tiquia et al.
31
reports
that compost or biofertilizer could be produced with the inoculation
of appropriate microbes which increased the decomposition rate
and shortened the maturity period. For example, the Bacillus sp.
isolate improved the rate of composting through the decrease of
Figure 4. A diagram simulating compost production.
Mesophilic phase:
temperatue of compost
stable as the ambient
Shredding and
remove large
sized EFB
Compost
packaging
Window
composting,
record
temperature
Thermophilic phase:
turn and add POME
Unsatisfied
compost
Screening and
drying
884 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.9 (3&4), July-October 2011
the concentration of polymer cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin
35
.
The produced composts increased the yields of tomato
16
.
The form of inoculum could be a pure isolate or a mixed variety
of microbes. In composting, the use of microbial consortia or
mixed cultures is more effective compared to a pure culture
23
.
As the microbial population evolves in response to changes of
phases, nutrient source and environmental conditions during
composting and other microorganisms may continually enter
through air, and by human contact to the compost, a mixed
inoculum is preferable for microbes survival in the different phases
and in providing different degradation activities during the entire
composting process.
Specifically for the EFB and POME substrates,
microorganisms that have the ability to degrade fat, lignin,
cellulose and hemicelluloses are given priority in the inoculums
cocktailing. The cocktail should be formulated to contain a wide
range of organisms including bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi and
yeasts. The co-composting process is expected to use natural
organism and as such the microorganisms used are derived and
isolated from different agricultural composts from a diverse
natural community
16
. The selected microbes must able to live
easily in soil and cellulolytic materials. Some of the common
species which are discussed in the following text belong to
genera of Agromonas, Aspergillus, Azotobacter, Bacillus,
Cellulomonas, Chaetomium, Clostridium, Coprinus,
Microbispora, Penicillium, Pseudomonas, Thermoactinomyces,
Trichoderma and Trichurus.
Complex organic compounds of EFB like lignin are mainly
degraded by thermophilic microfungi and actinomycetes. The
Thermomonaspora, Thermoactinonmyces
34
, Trichurus
11
and
Chaetomium
27
are indicated as thermophilic cellulolytic
degradation agents. Those thermophilic fungi have an optimum
functioning temperature of around 40-50C, which is also the
optimum temperature for lignin degradation in compost
34
. Some
other microbes having cellulase and protease activities are
Aspergillus, Cellulomonas
19
, Coprinus, Microbispora,
Pseudomonas
34
, Penicillium and Trichoderma
10
. Inoculation of
these facultative bacteria and fungus may shorten the composting
time, improve the compost quality and inhibit the growth of some
plant pathogens.
Another factor of choosing inoculum for co-composting is
the ability of microbes to reduce nitrogen loss. Nitrification
can be regarded as the gatekeeper of nitrogen turnover during
composting. During the first weeks of decomposition, readily
available organic nitrogen is normally mineralized by microbial
activity and released as ammonia. The mineralization rate
become slower as the more labile organic nitrogen disappears.
In contrast, nitrification performed by the microbes could reduce
the likelihood of NH
3
emissions and control the subsequent rate
of mineralized nitrogen. Therefore, Argomonas, Azotobacter
23
,
and Clostridium
28
have been selected to be nitrogen-fixer in
composting.
Having an active stock culture for performing composting
experiments is essential. Simple stock culture methods can be
used to grow selected microorganisms. The most often used
technique is inoculating a nutrient agar medium and allowing the
microorganisms grow at the optimum growth temperature for one
to two days. Common bacteria and fungi growth mediums can be
purchased each time needed. There are selective mediums that
References
1
Abdullah, N. and Chin, N. L. 2010. Simplex-centroid mixture formulation
for optimised composting of kitchen waste. Bioresour. Technol. 101:
8205-8210.
2
Abdullah, N. and Gerhauser, H. 2008. Bio-oil derived from empty fruit
can be used to isolate and culture specific microorganisms. For
preservation, the microbe culture is usually placed in a refrigerator
(4
o
C) for a month storage. For longer-term storage, cultures can
be frozen or freeze-dried.
Microbes Assessment for Windrow Composting
The microbes present in compost are tremendous diverse and
their ecologies are extremely complex. The isolation of the
microorganism species and communities cannot be fully
accomplished through the simple isolation methods
12
. To
investigate the microbial community succession in compost,
methods that have been used include the selective plate-count
methods. Total bacteria are enumerated on nutrient agar after 2
days incubation while the cellulolytic bacteria are enumerated
on a medium containing cellulite
43
. The mesophilic
microorganisms are treated at 30
o
C while the thermophilics are
treated at 55
o
C. Generally, the thermophilic microorganisms will
increase during the thermophilic stage and then decline to their
initial values. The mesophilic microorganisms will be present
during the entire process and at the mesophilic stage, their
population will be significantly elevated. The cellulolytic
microorganisms demonstrated a high count at the end of the
thermophilic phase
7
. At this juncture, it is worth noticing that an
unstable material which contains a high proportion of
biodegradable matter may sustain high microbial count. At a
more advanced level, Franke-Whittle et al.
9
has recommended
some bacteria gene probes through specifying individual
microorganism species involved in composting where they
developed 369 different 16S rRNA bacteria gene probes using a
microarray.
Conclusions
The composting process may not be as simple and easy as one
thinks whether it is at small or large scale to address the
management of waste produced. For example, the palm oil
extraction factories have set up large-scale composting facilities
and only to find that the composting activities and products are
delayed because of various issues. The design of the composting
facilities and control of the composting factors are their main
challenges. Knowing the importance of living microorganisms
in a composting process, substrate-related factors could be
utilized in bringing up a successful aerobic waste degradation
process. The addition of functional inoculums is expected to
save the compost production time and cost.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by UPMs Graduate Research
Fellowship programme and UPM-O3 Solutions Sendirian Berhads
2-years collaborative R&D. Appreciation goes to the Laboratory
of Process and Food Engineering, Seri Ulu Langat Palm Oil Mill
Sendirian Berhad, Jengka and Asia Green Sedenak compost plants
where several laboratory and pilot composting trials were
conducted from June 2008 to October 2009.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.9 (3&4), July-October 2011
885
treatment with microorganisms and subsequent vermicomposting.
Bioresour. Technol. 85:107-111.
24
Sridhar, M. K. C. and AdeOluwa, O. O. 2009. Palm oil industry residues.
In Nigam, P. S.-N. and Pandey, A. (eds). Biotechnology for Agro-
industrial Residues Utilisation: Utilisation of Agro-Residues, Springer
Science and Business Media, pp. 341-355.
25
Suhaimi, M. and Ong, H. K. 2001. Composting Empty Fruit Bunches
of Oil Palm. Extension Bulletin in Fertilizers, Soil Fertility, Plant
Nutrition of Food and Fertilizer Technology Centre of Taiwan.
26
Sumathi, S., Chai, S. P. and Mohamed, A. R. 2008. Utilization of oil
palm as a source of renewable energy in malaysia. Renew. Sust. Energ.
Rev. 12:2404-2421.
27
Suyanto, S., Ohtsuki, T., Yazaki, S., Ui, S. and Mimura, A. 2003.
Isolation of a novel thermophilic fungus Chaetomium sp. Nov. Ms-
017 and description of its palm-oil mill fiber-decomposing properties.
Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 60:581-587.
28
Taguchi, F., Mizukami, N., Yamada, K., Hasegawa, K. and Saito-Taki, T.
1995. Direct conversion of cellulosic materials to hydrogen by
Clostridium sp. Strain no. 2. Enzyme Microb. Tech. 17:147-150.
29
Thambirajah and Kuthubutheen, A. J. 1989. Composting of palm press
fibre. Biol. Wastes 27:257-269.
30
Thambirajah, J. J., Zulkali, M. D. and Hashim, M. A. 1995. Microbiological
and biochemical changes during the composting of oil palm empty-fruit-
bunches. Effect of nitrogen supplementation on the substrate. Bioresour.
Technol. 52:133-144.
31
Tiquia, S. M., Tam, N. F. Y. and Hodgkiss, I. J. 1997. Effects of bacterial
inoculum and moisture adjustment on composting of pig manure.
Environ. Pollution 96:161-171.
32
Trmier, A., Teglia, C. and Barrington, S. 2009. Effect of initial physical
characteristics on sludge compost performance. Bioresour. Technol. 100:
3751-3758.
33
Tumuhairwe, J. B., Tenywa, J. S., Otabbong, E. and Ledin, S. 2009.
Comparison of four low-technology composting methods for market crop
wastes. Waste Manage. 29:2274-2281.
34
Tuomela, M., Vikman, M., Hatakka, A. and Itvaara, M. 2000.
Biodegradation of lignin in a compost environment: A review. Bioresour.
Technol. 72:169-183.
35
Vargas-Garca, M. C., Surez-Estrella, F., Lpez, M. J. and Moreno, J.
2007. In vitro studies on lignocellulose degradation by microbial strains
isolated from composting processes. Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 59:
322-328.
36
Wei, Z., Xi, B., Zhao, Y., Wang, S., Liu, H. and Jiang, Y. 2007. Effect of
inoculating microbes in municipal solid waste composting on
characteristics of humic acid. Chemosphere 68:368-374.
37
Wu, T. Y., Mohammad, A. W., Jahim, J. M. and Anuar, N. 2009. A holistic
approach to managing palm oil mill effluent (POME): Biotechnological
advances in the sustainable reuse of pome. Biotechnol. Adv. 27:40-52.
38
Xi, B., Zhang, G. and Liu, H. 2005. Process kinetics of inoculation
composting of municipal solid waste. J. Hazard. Mater. 124:165-172.
39
Yadav, J. S. 1987. Influence of nutritional supplementation on solid-
substrate fermentation of wheat straw with an alkaliphilic white-rot
fungus (Coprinus sp.). Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 26:474-478.
40
Yaser, A. Z., Rahman, R. A. and Kali, M. S. 2007. Co-composting of
palm oil mill sludge-sawdust. Pak. J. Biol. Sci. 10:4473-4478.
41
Yeoh, C. Y., Chin, N.L., Tan, C. S. and Ooi, H.S. 2011. Acceleration
effects of microbial inoculum on palm oil mill organic waste
composting. Compost Sc. Util. 19:135-142.
42
Yong, K. T. L., Lee, K. T., Mohamed, A. R. and Bhatia, S. 2007.
Potential of hydrogen from oil palm biomass as a source of renewable
energy worldwide. Energy Policy 35:5692-5701.
43
Yu, H. Y., Zeng, G. M., Huang, H. L., Xi, X. M., Wang, R. Y., Huang, D.
L., Huang, G. H. and Li, J. B. 2007. Microbial community succession
and lignocellulose degradation during agricultural waste composting.
Biodegradation 18:793-802
bunches. Fuel 87: 2606-2613.
3
Baharuddin, A. S., Wakisaka, M., Shirai, Y., Abd-Aziz, S., Abdul Rahman,
N. A. and Hassan, M. A. 2009. Co-composting of empty fruit bunches
and partially treated palm oil mill effluents in pilot scale. Int. J. Agric.
Res. 4: 69-78.
4
Bongochgetsakul, N. and Ishida, T. 2008. A new analytical approach to
optimizing the design of large-scale composting systems. Bioresour.
Technol. 99:1630-1641.
5
Cekmecelioglu, D., Demirci, A., Graves, R. E. and Davitt, N. H. 2005.
Applicability of optimised in-vessel food waste composting for windrow
systems. Biosyst. Eng. 91:479-486.
6
Chang, C. H. and Yang, S.-S. 2009. Thermo-tolerant phosphate-solubilizing
microbes for multi-functional biofertilizer preparation. Bioresour. Technol.
100:1648-1658.
7
Chroni, C., Kyriacou, A., Manios, T. and Lasaridi, K.-E. 2009. Investigation
of the microbial community structure and activity as indicators of compost
stability and composting process evolution. Bioresour. Technol. 100:3745-
3750.
8
de Bertoldi, M., Vallini, G. and Pera, A. 1983. The biology of composting:
A review. Waste Manage. Res. 1:157-176.
9
Franke-Whittle, I., Knapp, B., Fuchs, J., Kaufmann, R. and Insam, H.
2009. Application of compochip microarray to investigate the bacterial
communities of different composts. Microb. Ecol. 57:510-521.
10
Haddadin, M. S. Y., Haddadin, J., Arabiyat, O. I. and Hattar, B. 2009.
Biological conversion of olive pomace into compost by using
Trichoderma harzianum and Phanerochaete chrysosporium.
Bioresour. Technol. 100:4773-4782.
11
Hart, T. D., Lynch, J. M. and De Leij, F. A. A. M. 2003. Production of
Trichurus spiralis to enhance the composting of cellulose-containing
waste. Enzyme Microb. Tech. 32:745-750.
12
Hassen, A., Belguith, K., Jedidi, N., Cherif, A., Cherif, M. and Boudabous,
A. 2001. Microbial characterization during composting of municipal solid
waste. Bioresour. Technol. 80:217-225.
13
Igwe, J. C. and Onyegbado, C. C. 2007. A review of palm oil mill effluent
(POME) water treatment. Glob. J. Environ. Res. 1:54-62.
14
Insam, H. and de Bertoldi, M. 2007. Microbiology of the composting
process. In Daiz, L. F., de Bertoidi, M., Bidlingmaier, W. and Stentiford,
E. (eds). Compost Science and Technology. Waste Management Series,
Vol. 8. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, pp. 25-48.
15
Kim, J. D., Park, J. S., In, B. H., Kim, D. and Namkoong, W. 2008.
Evaluation of pilot-scale in-vessel composting for food waste treatment.
J. Hazard. Mater. 154:272-277.
16
Kostov, O., Rankov, V., Atanacova, G. and Lynch, J. M. 1991.
Decomposition of sawdust and bark treated with cellulose-decomposing
microorganisms. Biol. Fert. Soils 11:105-110.
17
Luangkiattikhun, P., Tangsathitkulchai, C. and Tangsathitkulchai, M.
2008. Non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis of oil-palm solid
wastes. Bioresour. Technol. 99: 986-997.
18
Ohtsuki, T., Suyanto, S., Yazaki, S., Ui, S. and Mimura, A. 2005.
Production of large multienzyme complex by aerobic thermophilic
fungus Chaetomium sp. Nov. Ms-017 grown on palm oil mill fibre.
Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 40:111-116.
19
Poulsen, O. M. and Petersen, L. W. 1988. Growth of Cellulomonas sp.
Atcc 21399 on different polysaccharides as sole carbon source induction
of extracellular enzymes. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 29:480-484.
20
Sabrina, D. T., Hanafi, M. M., Mahmud, T. M. M. and Azwady, A. A.
N. 2009. Vermicomposting of oil palm empty fruit bunch and its
potential in supplying of nutrients for crop growth. Compost Sci.
Util. 17:61-67.
21
Salates, S., Siregar, F. A., Caliman, J. P. and Liwang, T. 2004. Ligno-
cellulose composting:Case study on monitoring oil palm residuals.
Compost Sci. Util. 12:372-382.
22
Shuit, S. H., Tan, K. T., Lee, K. T. and Kamaruddin, A. H. 2009. Oil
palm biomass as a sustainable energy source:A Malaysian case study.
Energy 34:1225-1235.
23
Singh, A. and Sharma, S. 2002. Composting of a crop residue through