Avaliação da qualidade de compostos de borras de café na produção de plantas ar...

• Author(s): Oliveira, Carina do Rosário
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4142
• Origin: Repositório da UTL
• Subject(s): composting; spent coffee ground; compost quality; growth index; aromatic herbs
• Document Type: Master Thesis
• Language: Portuguese
• Advisor(s): Queda, Ana Cristina Da Cunha; Ribeiro, Henrique Manuel Filipe

Description

Mestrado em Engenharia do Ambiente - Tecnologias Ambientais - Instituto Superior de Agronomia Increasingly, composting is presented as a viable alternative to deposition in landfills of organic wastes, with all the problems/issues that this option causes/entails. The product, the compost, as it is rich in organic matter is an asset to the soils and, therefore, to the Portuguese agriculture. The main objective of this study is to assess the quality of the composts produced from spent coffee grounds for the production of aromatic herbs. This evaluation was accomplished through physical, physical-chemical and chemical characterization of compost samples before and after being sieved. The stability / maturation of the composts was evaluated using the self-heating and the respiratory activity after four days test (AT4). Finally, the evaluation of the phytotoxicity of the composts was determined by the rate of growth using basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) and cress (Lepidium sativum L.). The results show that the characteristics of the coffee grounds are reflected in the final composts. The final spent coffee grounds composts presented, in general, interesting characteristics in terms of its use in the production of aromatic herbs and even in agriculture.