Plant wastes present a high cellulose content, which is an ideal organic material for composting. Five strains of thermophiles from processed Brassica waste were isolated, and the hydrolytic activity on various cellulosic biomass substrata and their temperature profiles were determined. 16S rRNA sequencing identified these strains as Thermoactinomyces and Bacillus spp. Maximal cellulase activity corresponded to 2.3 U mL-1 of enzyme. The application of these strains on Brassica rapa residues demonstrates increased total nitrogen content). TA-3, a Thermoactinomycetes sp. strain, performs best among all inoculants, increasing the nitrogen content from 0.74 to 0.91%, and decreasing the carbon content from 15.4 to 12.2%, showing its high efficiency and bioactivity during compositing.
cellulose degrading; enzymes; vegetable wastes
