DefinePK

Abstract

Background and Objectives The fresh palm oil mill effluent POME can be harmful to the soil if discharged untreated to the environment. The organic load and elemental content help to improving soil fertility and enzymes functionality. This study evaluated the impact of different regimes of POME on soil enzymes. Materials and Methods The POME was mixed with chicken-droppings at varying quantities. The unmixed POME was determined after 4 weeks of aerobic aging. Soil samples were contaminated with fresh and aged POME and left for 24 h. The uncontaminated soil sample was used as a control. Results The nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in the mixed aged POME-soil samples were high compared to the control. Dehydrogenase and urease activities increased in all the soil samples over time. The mixed POME-soil sample had the highest activities 57.220.96, 61.401.20 and 68.760.83 for sample B5 and 1.790.01, 2.740.01, 2.840.06, respectively for samples B7 at week 4. The catalase activity indicates a reduction in the mixed samples of the control. Conclusion The study concluded that mixing POME with poultry droppings increased soil fertility. Whereas, mixing fresh POME with poultry droppings allow for complete oxidation of the phenols in the fresh POME. Thus a combination of the fresh and aged POME may constitute a heavy pollutant to the soil, but the addition of chicken droppings greatly reduced POME impact on the soil enzymes.