ISSN 2375-088X
African Journal of Soil Science ISSN 2375-088X Vol. 7 (9), pp. 001-004, September, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Effect of inorganic fertilizer on microbial utilization of hydrocarbons on oil contaminated soil
Ubochi, K. C.1, Ibekwe, V. I.2 and Ezeji, E. U.1*
1Department of Biotechnology, Federal University of Technology. Owerri, Nigeria.
2Dept. of Industrial Microbiology, Federal University of Technology. Owerri, Nigeria.
Accepted 16 June, 2019
Abstract
The effect of inorganic fertilizer (NPK agricultural fertilizer) on biodegradation of soil (5 kg) contaminated with crude oil (50 g) was investigated for seven weeks. Four different test options were prepared namely; (i) 100 g of contaminated soil + 30 g of NPK agricultural fertilizer; (ii) 100 g of contaminated soil + 60 g of NPK agricultural fertilizer; (iii) 100 g of contaminated soil + 90 g of NPK agricultural fertilizer; and (iv) 100 g of contaminated soil only (control). The microbial degradation was monitored by the measurement of total heterotrophic count (THC), hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial count (HUB) and gravimetric loss of the crude oil with time. At the end of the seven weeks of incubation, the THC of 6.9x107, 9.0x107, 1.03x108 and 3.1x107cfu/g were recorded for test options (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv), respectively. The hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial counts (HUB) were 1.68x105, 1.63x105, 1.9x105 and 4.8x104 cfu/g for tests options (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv), respectively. The corresponding gravimetric hydrocarbon losses were 40.0, 50.52, 36.84 and 29.47% for test conditions (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv), respectively. The results of the study suggest that addition of inorganic fertilizer (especially 60 g NPK agricultural fertilizer) will further enhance microbial utilization of hydrocarbons.
Key words: Biodegradation, crude, NPK agricultural fertilizer.