EUBCE 2024 - Melania FIORE - Preliminary Results on Apple Pomace Valorization into Soil Organic Amendments and their Agronomic Effects

Preliminary Results on Apple Pomace Valorization into Soil Organic Amendments and their Agronomic Effects

Short Introductive summary

Food waste (FW) is a big economic, ethical, and environmental issue across the world. It is estimated that over 58 million tons of FW is generated only in the EU and that FW is responsible for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, traditional intensive farming practices are depleting soil’s organic carbon (SOC), with the consequent loss of food nutritional potential and the emissions of up to 78 Gt of carbon (C) into the atmosphere. Healthy soils and proper management practices can instead promote C sequestration in plant biomass and soil thus contributing to the reduction of GHG in the atmosphere. Organic amendments produced from agro-food waste and residues – such as compost, anaerobic digestate, and biochar – can contribute to restore soil health and to increase SOC, and at the same time they represent a valuable valorization strategy for FW. In this study, three different biorefinery value chains of apple pomace into organic amendments are explored and compared to evaluate both the technical performances and the environmental impact of the processes, and the agronomic effects on plants growth of the obtained products.

M. Fiore, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY
F. Demichelis, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY
T. Tommasi, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY
M. Pugliese, Università di Torino, ITALY
D. Fino, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY