The effect of auxiliary conditioning on humification of high-solids anaerobic digestion residues in aerobic composting processes

This study investigated the impact of cornstalk, bagasse, and spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as auxiliary materials on the nitrogen cycling and humification during the aerobic composting of high-solids anaerobically digested residues using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and PICRUSt2 functional prediction. Results showed that cornstalk and SMS accelerated compost warming and upregulated the expression of nitrogen-cycling-related genes (e.g. ureC, narH, and narG), thereby significantly reducing (P < 0.05) N₂O and NH₃ emissions and increasing the NO₃⁻-N content in the compost. Furthermore, cornstalk enriched the microbial diversity and abundance of key bacteria involved in degradation and humification (e.g. Sphingobacterium and Moheibacter), which increased the humic acid content (HA) (78.4 g/kg DM). Although bagasse promoted aerobic conditions, it had less effect on nitrogen cycling and humification. The study highlights the intricate relationship between nitrogen metabolism and humification, demonstrating how selection of auxiliary materials can optimize composting for environmental sustainability.