Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity

Technological procedures for immobilizing agrochemical pollutants and activating soil enzymes that break down contaminants are still lacking due to industry’s ever-increasing number of new products to enhance agricultural production systems. Using animal manure as organic fertilizers in plant produc...

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Main Author: George F. Antonious
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3031
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author George F. Antonious
author_facet George F. Antonious
author_sort George F. Antonious
collection DOAJ
description Technological procedures for immobilizing agrochemical pollutants and activating soil enzymes that break down contaminants are still lacking due to industry’s ever-increasing number of new products to enhance agricultural production systems. Using animal manure as organic fertilizers in plant production is an affordable way to alleviate the production cost of inorganic fertilizers and improve crop yield and quality at an affordable price to limited-resource farmers. Microorganisms in animal manure secrete various extracellular hydrolyzing enzymes capable of breaking down organic matter and releasing C, N, and P for plant uptake. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of combining biochar with animal manure on the activity of three enzymes involved in the N, C, and P cycles as a promising strategy for promoting soil health. The results have revealed variability among animal manure and biochar amendments in the activities of the three hydrolyzing enzymes. Biochar decreased the activity of urease and invertase in soil, indicating that some analytes in biochar act as enzyme inhibitors. The results also indicate that not all soil amendments promote soil enzymes activity, and this might be due to the various characteristics and composition of each animal manure.
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spelling doaj-art-dbca48f6177d466a8e8947fd09c3e9f32025-08-20T03:40:43ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-03-01156303110.3390/app15063031Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes ActivityGeorge F. Antonious0Division of Environmental Toxicology, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY 40601, USATechnological procedures for immobilizing agrochemical pollutants and activating soil enzymes that break down contaminants are still lacking due to industry’s ever-increasing number of new products to enhance agricultural production systems. Using animal manure as organic fertilizers in plant production is an affordable way to alleviate the production cost of inorganic fertilizers and improve crop yield and quality at an affordable price to limited-resource farmers. Microorganisms in animal manure secrete various extracellular hydrolyzing enzymes capable of breaking down organic matter and releasing C, N, and P for plant uptake. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of combining biochar with animal manure on the activity of three enzymes involved in the N, C, and P cycles as a promising strategy for promoting soil health. The results have revealed variability among animal manure and biochar amendments in the activities of the three hydrolyzing enzymes. Biochar decreased the activity of urease and invertase in soil, indicating that some analytes in biochar act as enzyme inhibitors. The results also indicate that not all soil amendments promote soil enzymes activity, and this might be due to the various characteristics and composition of each animal manure.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3031soil amendmentswaste recyclingorganic fertilizersureaseinvertasealkaline phosphatase
spellingShingle George F. Antonious
Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
Applied Sciences
soil amendments
waste recycling
organic fertilizers
urease
invertase
alkaline phosphatase
title Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
title_full Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
title_fullStr Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
title_full_unstemmed Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
title_short Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
title_sort duality of biochar and organic manure co composting on soil heavy metals and enzymes activity
topic soil amendments
waste recycling
organic fertilizers
urease
invertase
alkaline phosphatase
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/6/3031
work_keys_str_mv AT georgefantonious dualityofbiocharandorganicmanurecocompostingonsoilheavymetalsandenzymesactivity