Bioactive filtrate recovery from autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) to produce microbial-derived plant stimulants

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TerraBioGen, previously known as International Bio Recovery Corporation, is an agricultural biotech company**that develops cell-free, bio-stimulants and microbial metabolite bio-products that encourage plant growth and**enhance their tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the past, TerraBioGen operated an autothermal**thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) facility in which it processed organic municipal solid waste (mostly**food waste) from the City of Vancouver and produced Class A biosolids fertilizer. The large-scale (i.e., six 60**ton and three 120 ton) digesters operated by TerraBioGen were able to produce bioactive fractions successful at**achieving ATAD conditions. These bioactive fractions contained naturally occurring bacterial strains that also**had promising effects on plant growth, such as enhanced root development, improved plant health, increased**tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses and enriched crop yield. Since termination of the large-scale**ATAD, TerraBioGen tried to produce similar bioactive fractions using small-scale digesters (i.e., 1500, 100,**and 10 L) but was unsuccessful. Hence, TerraBioGen has an urgent need of developing similar biostimulants in**lab-scale digesters to maintain production at high level of quality. This project aims to explore the basic steps**involved in developing process and operating conditions at a lab-scale ATAD that encourages the microbial**community observed at large-scale. Laboratory experiments will be conducted at the Bioreactor Technology**Group Laboratory. ATAD will be simulated by automated fermenters with dissolved oxygen (DO), pH and**temperature probes. As substrate, food waste from cafeterias on UBC's Okanagan Campus will be used. If**results from the lab-scale experiments are promising, TerraBioGen will be able to generate bioactive fractions**and save significant capital and operational cost related to building and operating large scale ATAD digesters.**By using the biostimulant, the stress on current agricultural practices for farming more land and more irrigation**and using more fertilizer to meet increasing demand will be reduced. The project will train highly qualified**personnel in areas of waste reduction and resource recovery.