Assessment potential of Trichoderma spp. as biodecomposer agent of food waste

Trichoderma spp. have the potential as biodecomposer agent and capable to produce nutrient enriched biocompost. The objectives of this study were to identify cell wall degrading-enzyme produced by Trichoderma spp. and investigate their potential in production of nutritious compost. T. hamatum, T. harzianum and T. atroviride were tested its enzymatic activities by assaying their capability to degrade lignin, cellulose, xylan, starch and pectin on plate assays. Next, the nutrients of the composts treated with different Trichoderma spp. were analyzed. The outcome showed that all Trichoderma spp. isolates displayed highest cellulase, amylase, xylanase and pectinase activity based on the zone diameter of colour change at 9 cm on plate assays. Moreover, moderate ligninase activities in the range of 1.4 cm to 2.59 cm of brown pigment diameter were displayed. Electrical conductivity was found to be 6083 ppm for T.hamatum-treated compost (com post A), 5843 ppm for T. atroviride-treated compost (com post C), 5702 ppm for T.harzianum-treated compost (com post B) and 4663 ppm for the control. The highest phosphorus (P) and sodium (Na) were obtained for compost A (402 ppm, 55.5 ppm) compared to the control (301 ppm, 38.3 ppm) whereas nitrate (NO3-) was found to be the highest in compost C at 1005 ppm compared to control (370 ppm).