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Fermentation
Special Issues
Fermented Biofertilizer Production and Application
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Fermented Biofertilizer Production and Application

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2026) | Viewed by 2057

Editor

Dr. Pierre Christen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie Marine et Continentale, UMR 7263 (CNRS, AMU, IRD, AU), Avenue Escadrille Normandie Niemen, 13397 Marseille, France
Interests: fermentation; biofertilizer; microbial community; agroecology; agro/agri by-products valorization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The excessive use of chemicals in intensive agriculture has had a negative impact on soil diversity and fertility. A strategy for developing sustainable agriculture may be predicated on the use of microbial-based fertilizers, plant stimulators and related microbial applications.

This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in bioprocess engineering and fermentation technology in order to produce bio-inputs to restore soil fertility and soil structure and clean up polluted agricultural soils damaged by intensive conventional practices, considering nature-based solutions and a circular economy. Special attention will be given to the following topics:

(i) Innovative fermentation processes;

(ii) Alternative substrates that could be used;

(iii) The eventual pre-treatment of raw materials (pre-heating, grinding, mixing, etc.);

(iv) Microbiological aspects;

(v) Specific applications for developing countries.

Dr. Pierre Christen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fermentation
  • nature-based solutions
  • biofertilizer
  • circular economy
  • agricultural by-products
  • microorganisms

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 684 KB  
Article
Circular Recovery of Organic Waste from Mining Canteens for the Production of Biofertilizers: Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Indicators in High-Andean Regions
by Angel Benjamin Fernandez Canchos, José Antonio Reyes Rodríguez, Ricardo Giancarlo Gamarra Condori, Giovanni Martín Champin Luy, Berlan Rodríguez Pérez, Reinier Jiménez Borges and Yoisdel Castillo Alvarez
Fermentation 2026, 12(8), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12080362 - 3 Aug 2026
Viewed by 277
Abstract
The management of organic waste in high-altitude mining poses a distinctive circularity challenge: waste is generated at sites decoupled from agricultural systems, while the same operations are legally required to revegetate the land they disturb. This study provides, to the best of our [...] Read more.
The management of organic waste in high-altitude mining poses a distinctive circularity challenge: waste is generated at sites decoupled from agricultural systems, while the same operations are legally required to revegetate the land they disturb. This study provides, to the best of our knowledge, the first primary-data environmental characterization of a real system that valorizes dining-facility organic waste from a high-altitude mining unit in northern Peru into a solid biofertilizer and a liquid biol, both applied in situ for land reclamation. Unlike methanogenic digesters, the system operates under a lactic (acidogenic) fermentation regime inoculated with effective microorganisms and does not recover biogas. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (ISO 14040/14044) with Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation was combined with a well-established family of five circular economy indicators, adapted to the non-energy-recovery case by redefining the Energy Self-Sufficiency Ratio (ESSR) and the Decarbonization Circularity Indicator (DCI). The principal contribution is methodological: the framework is extended to a circularity archetype that previous, biogas-centered formulations could not represent, showing that a system can close its material and nutrient loops robustly (WVI = 0.97) while the energy loop is absent by design (ESSR = 0). The climate result is conditional and is a first-order greenhouse-gas (GHG) screening balance, not a physical carbon-sequestration claim: under the upper-bound assumption of full fertilizer substitution, the avoided fertilizer credit outweighs non-methane process emissions only below a narrow fugitive-methane threshold (≈0.32 kg CH4 per ton), a margin that narrows further once agronomic equivalence is discounted. The measured product acidity suggests that this condition is plausible, but, because methane was not measured directly, the low-emission interpretation is presented as a hypothesis requiring confirmation rather than as a demonstrated result. The environmental burden is driven by material and electricity inputs—chiefly the polypropylene containers and grid electricity—rather than by the biological process, which broadens the set of improvement priorities beyond methane management to include capital-good reuse and electricity decarbonization, without implying that methane can be neglected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fermented Biofertilizer Production and Application)
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16 pages, 1908 KB  
Article
Isolation, Characterization, and Genomic Elucidation of HRY1: An Unconventional but Highly Efficient Phosphate-Solubilizing Escherichia coli
by Ruiyan He, Sa Zhang and Yuanwang Liu
Fermentation 2026, 12(2), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12020113 - 15 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1170
Abstract
Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are pivotal in the cycling of phosphorus within terrestrial ecosystems and hold great promise for sustainable agriculture. In this study, we report the isolation of HRY1—a highly efficient phosphate-solubilizing strain—identified as Escherichia coli, a bacterium not traditionally recognized for [...] Read more.
Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are pivotal in the cycling of phosphorus within terrestrial ecosystems and hold great promise for sustainable agriculture. In this study, we report the isolation of HRY1—a highly efficient phosphate-solubilizing strain—identified as Escherichia coli, a bacterium not traditionally recognized for plant-beneficial traits. Under optimized conditions (glucose as carbon source, (NH4)2SO4 as nitrogen source, pH 7.0, 1% inoculum, and 5 g/L Ca3(PO4)2), HRY1 consistently solubilized ~16% of inorganic phosphorus, with peak activity coinciding with its stationary growth phase (14 h). Whole-genome sequencing revealed a comprehensive genetic toolkit for phosphorus mobilization, including eight genes implicated in organic acid-mediated mineral dissolution, five high-affinity phosphate transporter genes (pit and pst gene cluster), and three two-component regulatory systems responsive to phosphate starvation (e.g., phoBR). The functional integration of these systems suggests a multifaceted strategy combining acidification, active uptake, and adaptive regulation to thrive under phosphorus limitation. Our findings redefine the ecological scope of E. coli and uncover an unconventional yet potent PSB candidate with significant potential for biofertilizer development and soil phosphorus activation. This discovery reveals E. coli’s untapped potential for phosphorus solubilization, with HRY1’s novelty residing in its high efficiency under optimized conditions and its practical promise as a biofertilizer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fermented Biofertilizer Production and Application)
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Other

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25 pages, 2754 KB  
Systematic Review
Progress in Additives That Promote Humification During Agricultural Waste Composting
by Qian Zhang, Zonglu Yao, Lixin Zhao, Jing Feng, Juan Luo, Jiadong Yu and Ruixia Shen
Fermentation 2026, 12(8), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12080392 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 210
Abstract
Aerobic composting converts agricultural waste into stable, humus-rich products, and the application of exogenous additives is an efficient strategy to enhance humification. This systematic review synthesized studies published between 2023 and 2026 on additives that promote humification during agricultural waste composting. Based on [...] Read more.
Aerobic composting converts agricultural waste into stable, humus-rich products, and the application of exogenous additives is an efficient strategy to enhance humification. This systematic review synthesized studies published between 2023 and 2026 on additives that promote humification during agricultural waste composting. Based on the distribution of the retrieved literature, additives are categorized into inorganic additives, organic additives, biological strategies, and composite systems, and the effects and mechanisms of each category are systematically discussed. Iron-based additives achieve the highest humic acid (HA) increases of 82–267% through Fenton-like redox catalysis. Clay minerals and biochar produce moderate HA enhancements of 25–163% via physical structuring and surface adsorption with broader applicability. Small-molecule precursors and exogenous humic substances achieve HA gains exceeding 100% at sub-percent doses. Biological strategies provide self-sustaining catalytic activity but are sensitive to environmental conditions. Composite additives, the largest category, generally outperform single additives through functional complementarity, though antagonistic effects have also been documented. Cross-study patterns suggest that different feedstocks respond preferentially to distinct additive types, though systematic experimental validation is lacking. Critical gaps between laboratory findings and practical application are identified, including the predominance of small-scale studies, the absence of techno-economic analysis, and the unassessed environmental fate of metal-based additives. Future research priorities include pilot-scale validation under industrial conditions, the establishment of standardized humification metrics, and long-term field monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fermented Biofertilizer Production and Application)
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