| Summary: | Empty fruit bunch has a complex structure that difficult to break during the
composting process due to the high lignocellulose content that consists of hemicellulose,
cellulose, and lignin. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of biochar in
physicochemical changes in empty fruit bunch (EFB) composting and determine the
degradation of Lignin, Cellulose, and Hemicellulose of empty fruit bunch fibre during
the composting process. The composting sample was consist of EFB only, EFB +POME
and EFB+POME+Biochar.The mixture of EFB:POME: Biochar was prepared in the
ratio of 10:1:5 respectively. There are several parameters that need to measure that
consist of pH, electric conductivity (EC), moisture content, volatile solid (VS), Carbon
and Nitrogen ratio (C/N), total Phosphorus and fibre to observe the behaviour of
composting process of empty fruit bunch. This parameter was examined in an
environmental laboratory that complete with pH meter, YSI meter for electric
conductivity, laboratory oven and Furnance 550°C. The overall result for EFB, EFB
+POME and EFB+POME+Biochar composting trend is quietly similar in pH, volatile
solid, moisture content, total phosphorus and C/N ratio. Electric conductivity and fibre
show different profiles due to the different characteristics of composting with biochar
and without biochar. Moreover, the composting rate in presence of biochar produces
rapid compost due to it characteristic such as large porosity, large surface area and
favoring the microbial growth that increases the microbial activity. The presence of
biochar in the composting process can produce effective compost and reduce the
consuming time to stabilize the EFB product during composting process.
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