Características físico-químicas y microbiológicas del compostaje de bagazo de agave tequilero a escala industrial

The aim of the present study was to evaluate some physicochemical characteristics of large scale composting process of tequila agave bagasse, and also quantify the population dynamic of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes througout 300 days. A large windrow of agave bagasse of approximately 195 m (~331 t) was set and regularly monitored. Thereafter a pile section was reubicated to continue the evaluation. The windrow was sampled every 15 days and the following parameters were measured: moisture content, temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC), the organic matter (OM), C/N ratio and the population dynamic of bacteria, fungi and actynomicetes in colony forming units. From the very beginning of composting the temperature of the windrow reached the thermophylic phase (>45 °C) and continued up to 270 days. However, at the end of the study the temperature felt down till 42 °C due to the reduction on moisture content (<30%). The highest EC registered was 1.5 dS/m; the OM remained between 70-35% and the C/N ratio varied between 96.9 initial and 29.6 final. Actinomycetes were the most dominant group especially in the last weeks of composting, which infers the possibility of using this type of compost in soil bioremediation.