| Summary: | Organic amendment is important for promoting soil quality through increasing soil fertility and soil microbes. This study evaluated the effectiveness of using liquid food waste material (LFM) as a microbial resource, by analyzing the microbial community composition in LFM, and by isolating plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) from the material. High-throughput sequencing of LFM, collected every month from May to September 2018, resulted in the detection of >1000 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the LFM. The results showed that <i>Firmicutes</i> was abundant and most frequently detected, followed by <i>Proteobacteria</i> and <i>Actinobacteria.</i> Of the culturable strains isolated from LFM, almost all belonged to the genus <i>Bacillus</i>. Four strains of PGPB were selected from the isolated strains, with traits such as indole acetic acid production and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase activity. Lettuce growth was improved via LFM amendment with PGPB, and <i>Brassica</i> <i>rapa</i> showed significant differences in root biomass when LFM amendment was compared with the use chemical fertilizer. Field experiments using LFM showed slight differences in growth for <i>Brassica rapa,</i> lettuce and eggplant, when compared with the use of chemical fertilizer. LFM is a useful microbial resource for the isolation of PGPB, and its use as fertilizer could result in reduced chemical fertilizer usage in sustainable agriculture.
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