Enhancing composting efficiency of horticultural residues through wheat straw addition: Microbial mechanisms driving metabolic heat generation.

Sustainable thermal energy can be obtained through crop waste composting, enhancing the application potential of biomass resources. Microbial metabolic heat generation mechanisms during lignocellulose degradation in mixed straw composting were investigated. Four treatments representing different raw material compositions [T1 (Horticultural Residues, HR), T2 (HR + Cow Manure, CM), T3 (Wheat Straw, WS + HR), T4 (WS + CM)] were applied and composted for 36 days.