The current article focuses on the preparation and characterization of garbage enzyme (GE) and explores its applications in treating leachate. GE is prepared from fruit and vegetable wastes and characterized via analysis of metabolites, carbohydrates, proteins, antioxidants, and enzymatic activities. This study extends our understanding of GE by reporting the presence of various metabolites. Moreover, a metagenomic analysis of GE is presented, shedding light on the microbial diversity. Firmicutes emerged as the dominant phylum, surpassing other phyla, including Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. When exploring the potential for leachate treatment, the results indicate that vegetable GE shows 68% reduction in COD (chemical oxygen demand) and 39% reduction in ammoniacal nitrogen. Similarly, non-citrus GE also showed 64% reduction in COD and a 37% reduction in ammoniacal nitrogen, followed by citrus GE with a 33% reduction in COD and a 34% reduction in ammoniacal nitrogen compared to the control.
Keywords: Dissolved organic matter; Enzyme activities; Fermentation; Metabolites; Metagenomic sequencing; Phylogenetic analysis.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.