Effect of Microbial Consortium on Biodegradation Process of Organic Waste Materials

Solid waste generation has significantly increased in tandem with population growth, presenting substantial challenges to human health and environmental sustainability. In developing nations such as India, traditional management practices, including incineration and open dumping, continue to prevail despite their detrimental environmental effects. There is a paucity of research focusing on microbial consortia specifically engineered for the accelerated biodegradation of heterogeneous organic waste under local conditions. This study addressed the microbial consortium isolated from waste-associated environments enhancing the rate of organic waste degradation and effect of consortium for improving compost nutrient quality compared to natural decomposition. Microbial strains were isolated from a soil sample obtained from a vegetable and fruit waste disposal site in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Among the 50 isolates, five exhibiting strong hydrolytic activity were selected and identified through 16S rRNA sequencing as Cronobacter sakazakii LMSC, Stutzerimonas xanthomarina LMSA, Cronobacter sakazakii LMSPR, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes LMSPE, and Staphylococcus sp. LMSL. A consortium was prepared by inoculating equal proportions of each culture, incubating for 48 hours, and applied it to waste degradation. During composting, temperature (28–32 ° C), pH (neutral to alkaline), and moisture (68.44% in treated vs. 18% in control) were monitored. Nutrient analysis revealed higher values in the treated compost compared to the controls, contributing to enhanced soil quality and plant growth. The novelty of this study resides in the formulation of a native microbial consortium from wasteassociated bacteria, which demonstrated superior biodegradation efficiency and compost quality compared to natural decomposition.