Effects of Food Waste Compost on Soil Microbial Populations, Tomato Yield, and Tomato Quality

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of food waste compost (FW) on soil microbial population and growth, fruit yield, and quality of tomato grown in a greenhouse compared to no fertilizer (CK), chemical fertilizer (CF), decomposed chicken manure (CM), pig manure (PM), horse manure (HM), and bull manure (BM). Results show that FW treatment had the greatest numbers of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes in soils and shoot biomass, fruit diameter, and fruit yield of tomato, and it increased fruit yield by 12.6, 28.5, 31.0, and 40.0% when compared to HM, CF, CM, and CK, respectively. The FW treatment also improved fruit quality, with the contents of vitamin C, soluble sugar, and organic acid and the sugar/acid ratio of 22.8 mg 100 g(-1), 3.84%, 0.50%, and 7.73, respectively. Thus food waste compost can be as an alternative to chemical fertilizer and other animal manures in vegetable cultivation.