PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

The process of composting supports biological methods and management practices, such as vermicomposting and microbial inoculation, to enhance soil quality using biodegradable materials. However, the use of manure from animals poses potential risk for soil-transmitted helminths (STH) contamination. This study is aimed to determine the influence of various composting methods on the concentration of artificially-inoculated Ascaris suum eggs. There were three treatments (vermicomposting, composting with lactic acid bacteria, sun dry-composting) and a control (composting alone) which were artificially inoculated with A. suum eggs. Composting was done for a period of 31 days. A. suum percent recovery was determined on the 10th and 31st day of the composting process. Results revealed no significant differences in the percent recovery of A. suum in the various composting methods (p>0.05). Meanwhile, on the 31st day, the control (11.09%±6.40) and sundry-composting (9.03%±3.04) showed the highest percent recovery, followed by composting with lactic acid bacteria (7.62%±4.41). No A. suum eggs were recovered for vermicomposting on the 31st day. However, statistical analysis revealed no significant difference among treatments and control (p>0.05). Nevertheless, the present results suggest that the various methods of composting showed a 93.07% mean reduction of A. suum egg concentration in the organic fertilizers produced, and that composting rendered mechanical damage to eggs leading to reduced viability. Nevertheless, the presence of some fertilised eggs that could develop into infective embryonated eggs could still be a potential threat of viable eggs contaminating the organic fertilisers.