Effectiveness of inoculation with isolated Geobacillus strains in the thermophilic stage of vegetable waste composting.

An inoculum containing two amylolytic and three cellulolytic thermophilic bacteria, isolated from a preceding compost pile and identified as Geobacillus species by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, was applied to a mixture of market waste, rice straw and cow dung (5:1:0.2) so that the initial cell density was 2 x 10(8) colony forming unit (CFU) per gram dry weight at 55 degrees Celsius. The inoculation increased the total cell count particularly in the thermophilic stage as determined by flow cytometry.