Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377

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Process Safety and Environmental Protection

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psep

Contrasting effects of banana peels waste and its biochar on

greenhouse gas emissions and soil biochemical properties
Tanveer Ali Sial a,b , Muhammad Numan Khan a , Zhilong Lan a , Farhana Kumbhar d ,
Zhao Ying a,c,∗ , Jianguo Zhang a , Daquan Sun e , Xiu Li a
a
College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China
b
Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan
c
Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830011, China
d
College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China
e
Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N5A8, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The huge quantity of banana peels waste from juice industries and fruit markets every day is indicating a
Received 6 September 2018 potential bio-resource which is major task for environment safety. It can be converted into useful mate-
Received in revised form 14 October 2018 rial instead of being dumped in landfill site, and reduce the environment and economic problems. In this
Accepted 26 October 2018
study, we compared the influence of banana peels waste and its biochar on greenhouse gas emissions,
Available online 15 November 2018
soil enzyme activities and chemical properties of soil at 90 days incubation period. There were five treat-
ments of amendments: no amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel 2% (P2), biochar 1%
Keywords:
(B1) and biochar 2% (B2). Results indicated that biochar amendment significantly decreased cumulative
Banana peels
Biochar
nitrous oxide (N2 O) emissions (37.1%–54.8%), whereas banana peels amendment did not significantly
Greenhouse gases decrease cumulative N2 O emissions (1.3%–5.3%) as compared to control. Biochar application decreased
Soil biochemical changes the soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4 + -N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3 − -N) with an increasing rate. Cumulative
carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions for B1 and B2 treatments decreased 20.0% and 24.0% in comparison to the
banana peel amendment, respectively. Cumulative methane (CH4 ) emissions were higher in peel waste
than biochar amendment. Soil enzyme activities (urease, invertase and alkaline phosphatase) were signif-
icantly increased by biochar amendment. In contrast, banana peel amendment increased soil ammonium
nitrogen, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), ␤-glucosidase and
urease activities. We concluded that banana peels waste conversion to biochar should be an alternate
method of disposal since its application resulted in the reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved
the soil biochemical properties. This biochar should be further tested under field conditions to confirm
the potential for mitigating of GHG emissions and soil biochemical properties.
© 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Fruit residues (FR) have been identified as a critical bio-waste
source in populous human communities, which propose a great
challenge to the urban waste management (Okino-Delgado and
Fleuri, 2015; Lam et al., 2018). Globally, on average 30–40% of
total food is wasted considering during production, transporta-
tion and consumption (Parfitt et al., 2010; Pokharel et al., 2018).
There was around 3.5 million tons of banana peel waste generated
per year by food industries of the world (Housagul et al., 2014).
Among them, Beijing and Shanghai, the top two populous cities in
∗ Corresponding author at: College of Natural Resources and Environment, North-
west A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
E-mail address: yzhaosoils@gmail.com (Z. Ying).
China, produced approximately 1.3 million tons (Mt) of FR per day
(Wu et al., 2015; Yuan et al., 2016). China is 2nd largest banana
producer (12.1 Mt) after India (27.6 Mt) followed by Philippines
(8.6 Mt) and Brazil (6.9 Mt) (FAO, 2014). Banana peel consists of
30–40% out of its total fruit weight, which contains about 60–65%
cellulose, 6–8% hemicellulose and 5–10% lignin (Liew et al., 2017;
Pokharel et al., 2018). Parfitt et al. (2010) also estimated that 1/3
of fruit wastes in total fruit biomass are produced during indus-
trial processing. Unlike other organic municipal wastes, FR disposal
requires huge amount of fees for transportation, because of its
relatively low bulk density (Parfitt et al., 2010). The FR is usually
treated by direct landfilling, burning and composting, which have
become increasingly unfeasible for environmental issues such as
methane (CH4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions (Kimbrough
and Jensen, 2012; Lam et al., 2018). This fruit peels waste is pro-
duced in high amount every year which is representing a biomass

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2018.10.030
0957-5820/© 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377
that can be converted in biochar as a carbon source by thermal
pyrolysis technology and control the environmental problem. Ther-
mal pyrolysis is recently recognized as feasible methods (Saleh
and Danmaliki, 2016; Danmaliki and Saleh, 2017) for condensing
the raw bio-wastes such as crop residues (Sheng and Zhu, 2018;
Korai et al., 2018), organic manure (Foster et al., 2016), sawdust
(Li et al., 2018a), fruit peel waste (Lam et al., 2018; Liew et al.,
2017), rubber tyres (Saleh and Danmaliki, 2016) and sewage sludge
(Sun et al., 2018) under negligible oxygen atmosphere and at rel-
atively low temperatures < 700 ◦ C (Jeong et al., 2016; Saleh and
Danmaliki, 2016; Li et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). The output of
pyrolysis on bio-wastes includes pyrogenic carbon (biochar) that is
carbon enriched porous material (Nam et al., 2018) and surface area
and holds residual nutrients after pyrolysis (Li et al., 2018a, 2018b,
2018c), depending on the biomass composition and pyrolysis tem-
perature and time (Jeong et al., 2016). It improved crop growth
under contaminant soil due to stable carbon matrix and large sur-
face area containing various functional groups (Li et al., 2018a,
2018b, 2018c), and adsorbed the heavy metals (Danmaliki and
Saleh, 2017). According to Lehmann and Joseph (2009) there are
four valuable aspects that could be provided by applying pyrolysis
onto bio-wastes: (1) reduce the negative effects of waste (sanitizing
pathogens, balancing C:N ratios), (2) energy generation (bio-gas,
bio-oil, and sometimes biochar), (3) use of biochar as soil amend-
ment for decreasing fertilizer dosage and improve soil fertility, and
(4) reduce the gas emissions since most of the C consortium in
biochar are relatively ‘stable’.
It is understood that the pyrolysis technology of organic waste
material converted into biochar benefits more than organic solid
waste disposal (Danmaliki and Saleh, 2017; Li et al., 2018a, 2018b,
2018c). However, it is urgent to understand the economic and envi-
ronmental values of pyrolysis vs. non-pyrolysis, when use biochar
or its raw material as soil amendments. One of the environmental
concerns for waste disposal is the emission of greenhouse gases.
Currently, the greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations of carbon
dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ) and nitrous oxide (N2 O) had ele-
vated to 400 ppm, 1826 ppb and 326 ppb, respectively with a net
increase of around 142%, 253% and 121% (NOAA-ERSL, 2015). The
emissions of GHG associated with FRs were found to be the third
source for GHGs as for China and USA (Eckard and Victoria, 2008;
FAO, 2014). Oelofse and Nahman (2013) reported that one ton of
fruit and food waste produces 4.14 tons of (CO2 ) in gross by directly
emitting and indirectly induced microbial metabolism. CH4 and
N2 O have also been defined as the main contributors to the global
warming (Pokharel et al., 2018). For instance, N2 O has a global
warming effect conceivable approximately 310 times that of CO2
over a 100 years horizon, and is considered as a key contributing
to the formation of ozone depleting compounds (Montzka et al.,
2011; Hu et al., 2016). China government is facing the environ-
mental and economic issues due to huge amount of fruit waste per
day (Wu et al., 2015). Previous studies documented that organic
wastes converting into biochar by pyrolysis technology reduce the
GHGs (Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b; Pokharel et al., 2018). However,
the economic and environmental constriction of biochar amend-
ment have not been clearly assessed yet. It is dependent on the
chemical properties of biochar feedstock and pyrolysis temperature
conditions and activation methods used during biochar produc-
tion (Li et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). Its application into soil can
sequestrate carbon, reduce CO2 and decrease the microbial activ-
ity (Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b; Pokharel et al., 2018) because of
the fixed carbon, slow decomposition and longtime stability in soil
(Darby et al., 2016; Danmaliki and Saleh, 2017). Biochar application
has a potential to reduce N2 O emission production from soil due to
adsorption of ammonium (NH4 + ) and nitrate (NO3 − ) on the biochar
surface area and pore space (Kammann et al., 2015; Li et al., 2018a,
2018b, 2018c) and decrease the total nitrogen, during denitrifica-
367
tion process in the soil (Darby et al., 2016; Pokharel et al., 2018).
Another important factor is that soil pH increased after biochar
amendment, and depressed the ratio of N2 O related product dur-
ing denitrification (Van Zwieten et al., 2010). The cation exchange
capacity (CEC), pH, ash content, volatile matter and fixed carbon
contents of biochar also depend on pyrolysis temperature and con-
dition (Danmaliki and Saleh, 2017; Pokharel et al., 2018; Li et al.,
2018a, 2018b, 2018c; Lam et al., 2018).
Should biochar outperform its precursor raw materials for soil
modification with respect to both nutrient status and other bio-
logical assays such as enzymatic activities (Jabli et al., 2018)?
Empirically, biochar has sorption capacity that might trap inor-
ganic nitrogen (N) (Lan et al., 2017), organic compounds, micro-
and macro-elements (Wang et al., 2015; Danmaliki and Saleh, 2017;
Yao et al., 2017), decrease soil bulk density (Lim et al., 2016) and
improve the soil water holding characteristics. It also improved
N availability for plants by changing the N-bacterial communities
and related soil biological functions (Pokharel et al., 2018; Ullah
et al., 2018a, 2018b) in soil, and as a result reduced N losses by
leaching (Wang et al., 2015). Several studies found that biochar
amendment increased the enzymatic activities involved in N and P
cycling but decreased the activities of C related enzymes (Bhaduri
et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b) in soils. Other studies have
found inconsistent results (Paz-Ferreiro et al., 2014), and credited
that to variable soil types, temperature and biochar characteristic
due to varied pyrolysis temperatures and raw material feedstock
(Lan et al., 2017; Pokharel et al., 2018). Soil enzymatic activities as
major biocatalysts involved in all biochemical reactions including
microbial life cycle and metabolism, break down and decomposi-
tion of soil organic matter and residues, degradation of perilous
organic contaminants and nutrients cycling (Ibrahim et al., 2016;
Ullah et al., 2018a, 2018b).
Since last decades there has been an increasing interest on the
conversion of carbonize waste materials into biochar, and very
limited report worked on the biochar from fruit waste especially
banana peels. The conversion of fruit waste into biochar to act as a
soil amendment could be a practical alternative to reduce the envi-
ronmental and economic losses. Therefore, this study conducts an
alternative to convert banana peels waste into biochar. The main
objectives of present study are: 1) to compare the effect of banana
peel waste vs. its biochar on GHG emissions and microbial activ-
ities under laboratory incubation experiment; and 2) to evaluate
the influence of banana peel waste and its biochar on soil enzymes
activities and chemical properties.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Biochar and soil
Banana peels were collected from fruit market of Yangling (34◦
20 N, 108◦ 24 E; Shaanxi, China) and washed with tape water
three times and then cut into approximately 4–5 cm-long pieces.
The banana peels were air-dried for two weeks then washed with
distilled water to remove any adhered dusts. The feedstock was
dried in oven at 70◦ C for 48 h and grounded to pass 2-mm sieve.
This feedstock was pyrolyzed in a modified microwave muffle fur-
nace (Yamato FO41OC – OP01, Japan) under N2 atmosphere with
the pyrolysis temperature of 350◦ C and heating rate of 7◦ C min−1
for retention period of 3 h. Electrical conductivity (EC) and pH in
banana peel and biochar (1:10 (w/v)) were measured using a glass
electrode (DDS-307 EC meter and Mettler Toledo 320-S pH meter).
Total carbon (TC) and nitrogen (TN) concentrations of banana peels
waste and biochar were determined by using an automated ele-
mental analyzer (Vario Max, Elementar, Germany). Total P and
K in banana peel and biochar were analyzed by digestion with
H2 SO4 +HClO4 (Parkinson and Allen, 1975). The volatile matter con-
368 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377
Table 1
Selected properties of soil, banana peels waste and its biochar used in the incubation study.
Parameters Soil
Clay 32%
Silt 52%
Sand 16%
Textural class (Silty clay Loam)
pH (1:2.5) (H2 O) 8.2 ± 0.04
EC (1:2.5) (␮S cm−1 ) (H2 O) 181 ± 4.3
Soil organic carbon (g kg−1 ) 8.89 ± 0.8
Total N% 1.01 ± 0.0
C:N 9.57 ± 0.7
Proximate content
Moisture
Volatile matter
Fixed carbon
Ash
Total P (g kg−1 ) 1.54 ± 0.05
Total K (g kg−1 ) 34.65 ± 2
Olsen P (mg kg−1 ) 21.95 ± 1
K exchangeable (mg kg1 ) 165 ± 3
Yield % – –
tents analysis of banana peel waste and its biochar was determined
using a thermogravimetric analyzer by heating the samples inside
the modified muffle furnace (Yamato FO410C – OP01, Japan). The
volatile matter was recorded by the mass loss observed at temper-
ature ranged between 150 till 600◦ C, while ash content (%) was got
by combustion of the peel waste and biochar in the modified muf-
fle furnace at 500 ◦ C for 1 h. The fixed carbon concentration was
calculated by the weight difference according to Lam et al. (2017,
2018). The moisture was obtained from TGA analyzer after air dried
of banana peels waste. The morphology of banana peels waste and
its biochar was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
micrographs of the peels and biochar surfaces pyrolyzed at 350◦ C.
The basic properties of the banana peel waste and biochar are pre-
sented in Table 1.
A silt clay loam soil (0–20 cm) was collected from the long
term experimental station for a cropping system of winter wheat-
maize rotation at Northwest A&F University, Yangling. The soil
was classified as Orthic Anthrosols. After collection, soil samples
were air-dried, grounded and sieved through a 2-mm sieve prior to
further analysis. Electrical conductivity (EC) and pH in soil-water
extract (1:2.5 (w/v) were measured using a glass electrode (DDS-
307 EC meter and Mettler Toledo 320-S pH meter). Soil particle
size was determined by the Mastersizer 2000E (Malvern, UK) laser
diffracto meter (Sochan et al., 2012). Soil organic carbon (SOC) was
determined by wet digestion using sulfuric acid, potassium dichro-
mate (H2 SO4 –K2 CrO7 ). Soil total carbon (STC) and total nitrogen
(STN) concentrations of soil were determined by using an auto-
mated elemental analyzer (Vario Max, Elementar, Germany). Total
P and K were analyzed by digestion with H2 SO4 +HClO4 (Parkinson
and Allen, 1975). Soil NH4 + and NO3 − were extracted using 2 mol
L-1 KCl (soil: solution 1:10) and shaking for 1 h, before analyzed
by continuous flow analyzer (Bran and Luebbe AA3, Norderstedt,
Germany). Available P was measured by development of blue col-
ored complex after extracted by 0.5 M NaHCO3 (pH 8.5) (Murphy
and Riley, 1962); available K was determined using emission spec-
troscopy after extraction in 1 N ammonium acetate (NH4 OAc)
(Knudsen et al., 1982). Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitro-
gen (MBN) were determined by chloroform fumigation and direct
extraction standardized method (Vance et al., 1987). Fresh soil sam-
ples (12.5 g) with chloroform and un-fumigated soil samples were
extracted by 0.5 M K2 SO4, and the extracts were measured using a
Phoenix 8000 TOC analyzer (Teledyne Tekmar Mason, USA). MBC
and MBN were calculated using conversion factors 0.45 for micro-
bial C and 0.54 for microbial N (Jenkinson and Ladd, 1981). The
Banana peels waste Banana biochar (350◦ C)
4.7 ± 0.03 (1:10) 10.88 ± 0.8 (1:10)
1225 ± 8 2052 ± 12
42.33 ± 3 55.4 ± 3
1.36 ± 0.02 1.9 ± 0.03
31 ± 2 29.4 ± 1.5
7.4 ± 0.8 5.2 ± 0.4
55.1 ± 4.3 26.5 ± 2.5
30.1 ± 2 58.5 ± 3.4
7.4 ± 0.7 9.8 ± 0.5
0.68% ± 0.01 1.26% ± 0.04
0.16% ± 0.0 0.42% ± 0.01
– –
– –
40%
basic characteristics of the soil used in this study are mentioned in
Table 1.
2.2. Experimental design and amendments
A laboratory soil incubation study composed of five treatments
with three replications was used in a completely randomized
design, included control (no amendment), 1% banana peel P1 (peel
waste10 g kg−1 soil), 2% banana peel P2 (peel waste 20 g kg−1
soil), 1% biochar B1 (biochar 10 g kg−1 ) and 2% biochar B2 (biochar
20 g kg−1 soil) on the weight (w/w) basis. These dosages repre-
sent equivalent field rates (20 and 40 tons ha-1 ) incorporated into
0–20 cm layer. To achieve a homogeneous mixture, 200 g soil and
amendments were mixed manually before transferring into 500 ml
sterilized glass jars. Soil moisture was maintained at 60% of the
water holding capacity (WHC) during the incubation by compar-
ing the weight differences. The experiment implemented in an
incubator at 25 ◦ C for 90 days. After incubation, fresh soil samples
were stored at 4◦ C for analyses of enzymatic, mineral nitrogen and
microbial activities; and a portion of soil was air dried for physico-
chemical analysis.
2.3. Gas sampling and analysis
Gas samples were periodically collected from the sample bottles
for gas emissions analysis at 0, 6, 12, and 24 h after the initiation of
the study, then afterwards were collected one time per day from 2
to 8 days, and then obtained at 10, 12, 15, 18, 25, 32, 39, 45, 52, 59,
65, 72, 80 and 90 days after the initiation of the incubation. Before
each air sample collection, the lids were opened for half an hour
to ensure thorough gas exchange between the atmosphere and the
inside of the jar. The lids were sealed before sampling. Gas sam-
ples were taken after incubating 0 and 2 h using a 50-mL gas-tight
syringe (BD Luer-LokTM Tip).The concentration of each greenhouse
gas was measured using a Gas Chromatograph with an Electron
Capture Detector (Agilent Technology 7890B, USA).
2.4. Soil enzymes assays
Enzymes activities of urease, ␤-glucocidase, invertase and alka-
line phosphatase were analyzed by using colorimetric method.
Urease activity was measured by the determination of ammonium
released from a solution of urea (10%) and citrate buffer solution
pH 7.6 at 37 ◦ C for 24 h (Tabatabai, 1994). ␤-glucocidase activ-
ity was determined based on the colorimetric determination of
p-nitrophenyl released by ␤-glucocidase, 1 g of air-dried soil was
 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377 369

Fig. 1. Scanning electron micrographs of banana peels (a) and its biochar (b) at (350 ◦ C) pyrolysis temperature. The solid red arrows indicate the pore space and the yellow
arrows indicate the surface area of biochar that’s flat and nonporous (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web
version of this article).

incubated for 1 h at 37 ◦ C with a buffered PNG (p-nitrophenyl- ␤-D
glucocidase) solution pH (6.0) and toluene (Tabatabai, 1994). Inver-
tase activity was measured by standard protocol (Guan, 1986) using
5 g of air-dried soil was incubated for 24 h at 37 ◦ C with 15 ml of
8% sucrose, 5 ml phosohate buffer at pH 5.5 and 0.1 toluene. The
glucose released by invertase was then reacted with 3.5- dinitro-
salicylic acid and 3 aminonitrosalicylic acid, assayed based on
the product of sucrose solution as substrate and samples were
determined calorimetrically at 578 nm using a spectrophotome-
ter. Alkaline phosphatases activity was determined at pH 9.6 with
nitrophenyl phosphate solution used as the substrate (Guan, 1986).
2.5. Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 22 (IBM) and
figures were produced using Origin Pro. 9.0. Results of incuba-
tion study are presented as triplicate means ± SE. One-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare effects of banana
peel waste amendments (P), biochar amendments (B) and control
treatment. Mean comparison testing was performed using Least
Significant Differences (P < 0.05).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characteristics of biochar and soil after banana peel and
biochar amendments
The surface of peels was rough and non-porous as compared to
its biochar (Fig.1). After pyrolysis of banana peels indicated that
the biochar was more pore space and surface area as compared
to banana peels waste. The porous and surface area are support-
ing to possible use of the banana peels derived biochar has a lot
of adsorption sites to adsorb the useful molecules. After 90 days
incubation period the soil pH was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced
by amendments of banana peel waste and its biochar (Table 2).
Peel waste amendment decreased soil pH and biochar amendment
increased soil pH as compared to control. Peel waste decreased the
soil pH (0.28 and 0.94 units for P1 and P2, respectively) and biochar
increased the soil pH (0.1 and 0.45 units for B1 and B2, respectively)
over the control. This result was in line with the El-Mahrouky et al.
(2015) and Sheng and Zhu (2018). In the present study, based on
the fluctuations of soil pH in waste and biochar amendments, peel
waste may release acidic organic decomposable compounds that is
why soil pH decreased, but biochar has liming effect. Lehmann and
Joseph (2015) investigated that the biochar application to soil may
contribute to an increase or decline of pH depending on the nature
and rate of biochar. Sheng and Zhu (2018) and Li et al., (2018a,b,c)
evaluated that biochar has alkaline in reaction and increased the
soil pH.
3.2. Influence of peel waste and its biochar on SOC and TN
SOC and TN were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by peel
waste and biochar amendments after a 90 days incubation period
(Table 2). The highest SOC concentrations were recorded for the
B2 (21.9 g kg−1 ) and the lowest for the control (9.1 g kg−1 ) treat-
ment. SOC was increased by the amendments with 21.2% (P1), 32.4%
(P2), 45.6% (B1) and 59.4% (B2), respectively, over the control. Soil
TN concentration had increased with an increasing rate of amend-
ments of waste (30.3 and 33.2% for P1 and P2, respectively) and
biochar (38.2 and 39.0% for B1 and B2, respectively) over control.
Our results are consistent with previous studies (Demisie et al.,
2014; Zhu et al., 2017). The biochar amendments showed the max-

Table 2
Effects of banana peel waste and its biochar on soil biochemical properties at 25 ◦ C after 90 days incubation period (mean ± standard error; n = 3).

Treatments pH SOC (g kg−1 ) TN (g kg−1 ) NH4 + (mg kg−1 ) NO3 − (mg kg-1 ) AP (mg kg−1 ) AK (mg kg−1 )

Control 8.22 ± 0.04b 9.11 ± 0.36e 1.09 ± 0.02d 1.91 ± 0.02b 4.50 ± 0.66c 21.05 ± 1.66e 175 ± 4.48e
P1 7.95 ± 0.06c 11.48 ± 0.05d 1.56 ± 0.05c 1.49 ± 0.2bc 2.61 ± 0.41c 28.61 ± 0.36d 273 ± 3.27d
P2 7.41 ± 0.03d 13.30 ± 0.28c 1.63 ± 0.03bc 2.97 ± 0.31a 4.29 ± 0.26c 37.58 ± 0.71c 525 ± 4.72c
B1 8.32 ± 0.03b 16.53 ± 0.78b 1.67 ± 0.02b 1.10 ± 0.01 cd 24.96 ± 0.95a 55.78 ± 0.80b 629 ± 3.64b
B2 8.67 ± 0.06a 21.99 ± 0.82a 1.80 ± 0.01a 0.93 ± 0.04d 17.55 ± 1.02b 70.60 ± 1.40a 1627 ± 4.66a

Letters indicate significant difference between the treatments, which was analyzed using a LSD test (p < 0.05).
Abbreviations = Control (No amendment), P1 (Peel waste 1%), P2 (Peel waste 2%), B1 (Biochar 1%), B2 (Biochar 2%), (SOC) Soil organic carbon, (TN) Total nitrogen, (NH4 + )
Ammonium, (NO3 − ) Nitrate, (AP) Available phosphorus and (AK) Available potassium.
370 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377

Fig. 2. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the correlations between greenhouse gas emissions, soil enzymes, soil microbial and chemical parameters. The arrows indicate that
the microbial biomass C and N, soil NH4 + -N and ␤-gluco activity had a significant effect on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 , CH4 and N2 O) (P < 0.05), and soil pH and NO3 −
-N had positively correlated with Al-phosp and Invertas. Soil urease activity has positively correlated with SOC, TN, AP and AK.
Abbreviations: Microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), ammonium nitrogen (NH4 + -N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 − -N), total nitrogen (TN), soil
organic carbon (SOC), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), Alkaline phosphatases (Al-phosp), ␤-glucocidase (␤-gluco), Invertase (Invertas), carbon dioxide
(CO2 ), Methane (CH4 ) and Nitrous oxide (N2 O).

imum stability of SOC as compared to peel waste amendments.
Darby et al. (2016) recognized that biochar application can increase
the SOC stability due to COOH groups under short term experi-
ments, and organic carbon bond to the biochar. Similarly, biochar
has high porosity, surface area and volume ratio as compared the
waste or feedstock (Zhu et al., 2017); which is favorable condition to
adsorb the SOC on the biochar surface area and decrease the avail-
ability of the soil organic matter (Li et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). The
biochar can adsorb soluble constituents from the organic matter,
and physically protect from the microorganisms and decrease the
carbon mineralization due to high porosity (Danmaliki and Saleh,
2017; Pokharel et al., 2018). SEM analysis indicated that biochar
has large surface area and pore space, that is why adsorption of
SOC more than peels waste amendment Fig. 1. The maximum con-
tent of fixed carbon and minimum content of volatile matter in
the biochar over the peel waste is indicating the maximum carbon
concentration after pyrolysis (Table 1).
3.3. Impact of peel waste and biochar on soil NH4 + - N and NO3 − -
N adsorption capacity of NH4 + on the banana waste as compared to
Soil amendments and rates significantly (p < 0.05) influenced
on soil NH4 + - N and NO3 − - N as compared to the control treat-
ment (Table 2). The highest NH4 + -N content was observed for the
P2 treatment (2.97 mg kg-1 ) and the lowest NH4 + -N content was
observed for the B2 treatment (0.93 mg kg-1 ). That is, the peel waste
P2 (35.3%) increased and P1 (21.4%), B1 (42.6%) and B2 (51.3%)
decreased over the control, respectively. However, the concentra-
tions of NO3 − -N were greater for the B1 and B2 treatments (24.9
and 17.5 mg kg-1 , respectively) and lower NO3 − -N contents for the
waste treatments P1 (2.6 mg kg-1 and 4.2 mg kg-1 ) as compared
to the control. That is, biochar amendments increased (82.5% and
74.4% for the B1 and B2, respectively) and peel waste amendments
decreased (7.2% and 20.3% for the P1 and P2, respectively) over the
control. Similar trend was found by Wang et al. (2015) that the
increase biochar rates decreased the soil NO3 − -N contents in an
incubation study. Lan et al. (2017) reported that soil NH4 + - N consis-
tently decreased over time in the biochar treatments except for an
acidic eucalyptus biochar treatment which resulted in significantly
greater soil NH4 + -N contents than the other biochar treatments.
Same trend in this study showed that the biochar increased pH
and decreased the soil NH4 + - N contents. The causes for the varia-
tions were not clear, but might be due to the soil pH fluctuations,
and higher amount of O- holding functional group and stronger
its biochar. The biochar has high surface area over the feedstock,
and potentially enhanced the adsorption of NH4 + - N and NO3 − -N in
biochar pore space. Esfandbod et al. (2016) assessed that soil NH4 + -
N concentrations depended on the soil pH and amendments. It
 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377
Fig. 3. The effects of banana peel waste and its biochar on soil microbial activities (Microbial biomass carbon (A) and Microbial biomass nitrogen (B)) at 25 ◦ C for 90 days
incubation period. no amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel 2% (P2), biochar 1% (B1) and biochar 2% (B2). Error bars represent the standard deviation of
the mean (n = 3). Different letters indicate there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the LSD Means Comparisons between the treatment mean.
should be pointed out that in our study, biochar has alkaline effects
on soil pH and increased soil NO3 − -N contents for the biochar
treatments over the waste treatments, and thus the increased the
biochar rate decreased the soil NO3 − -N contents.
3.4. The impact of peel waste and its biochar on microbial
biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN)
The maximum MBC and MBN were recorded for the waste
treatments than its biochar and control treatments. Peel waste
treatments significantly (p < 0.05) increased the MBC (10.12% and
18.31% for the P1 and P2, respectively), and biochar treatments
decreased the MBC (0.2% and 14% for the B1 and B2, respectively)
over the control treatment (Fig. 3A). Similar picture was observed
for the MBN which was not affected by biochar amendment, but
significantly (p < 0.05) increased by banana peel waste amend-
ments (50.10% and 62.92% for the P1 and P2, respectively) over
the control treatment (Fig. 3B). It showed the higher population
of soil microorganisms after waste amendments in comparison to
the biochar. Foster et al. (2016) informed that the MBC contents
were increased for the organic manure amendment, while biochar
decreased and thus the increased the MBC over the control. Our
findings are in agreement with previous studies performed by Zhu
et al. (2017) and Zhang et al. (2017a,b) that biochar decreased MBC
and MBN with increase rate of biochar. These fluctuations are indi-
cating that banana peel waste have created suitable environment
for microbes because maximum labile organic carbon derived from
the waste amendments than biochar amendments. Similar results
were observed by numerous studies (Zhu et al., 2017; Korai et al.,
2018; Pokharel et al., 2018). Lemann and Joseph (2009) confirmed
that pH is one of the dynamic factors which affect soil MBC and MBN
values. The soil and biochar used in this study both were alkaline in
reaction which affected soil MBC and MBN values. It is assumed that
the labile organic carbon derived from the banana peel waste appli-
cations created a more promising environment for the increased
microbial growth. Banana peels waste has maximum content of
volatile matter and low fixed carbon over its biochar (Table 1).
3.5. Effects of peel waste and biochar on available P and K
As compared to the control, the soil amendments rates signif-
icantly (p < 0.05) increased the available P and K concentrations
371
(Table 2). The available P concentrations of soil showed sta-
tistically significant difference between the biochar and waste
treatments as compared to the control. The P concentration is the
highest for the B2 (70.6 mg kg−1 ), followed by B1 (55.7 mg kg−1 ),
P2 (37.5 mg kg−1 ), P1 (28.6 mg kg−1 ) and control (21.1 mg kg−1 ),
respectively. The soil exchangeable K concentrations were also
increased under biochar and peel waste treatments, with the great-
est value for the B2 (1627 mg kg−1 ) and the lowest for the control
(175 mg kg−1 ). Biochar treatments increased (72.1% and 89.2% for
the B1 and B2, respectively) and peel waste treatments (35.8% and
66.6% for the P1 and P2, respectively) over the control, while biochar
increased 1.9 to 3 times over peel waste. Our results are consistent
with the findings of Liu et al. (2017) and Yao et al. (2017) that the
higher available P and K concentrations contents were increased
with increasing rates of biochar. Previous studies reported that
biochar amendments can improve soil P and K availability because
it has large surface area (Zhai et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2015; Korai
et al., 2018), providing favorable soil environment associated with
biochar application, which mobilized the related soil microbial
activity (Fig. 3).
3.6. Interaction of enzymatic activities with banana peel waste
and biochar
The recovery of soil enzyme activities varied widely, related on
soil properties, type of amendments and behavior of enzymes. After
a 90 days incubation period, biochar and peel waste amendments
significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the urease activity (Fig.4A). The
higher urease activity was recorded for the B2 (195 mg urea-N kg−1
soil h−1 ) and lower for the control treatments (89 mg urea-N kg−1
soil h−1 ). The biochar and peel waste treatments improved urease
activities over the control; for the B1 (48.2%), B2 (54.3%), P1 (14.5%)
and P2 (47.5%). Jain et al. (2016) described that the biochar amend-
ments significantly enhanced the urease activity as compared to the
control. Zhang et al., (2017a,b) perceived that the urease activities
were improved with biochar amendments as compared to wheat
straw treatment. Jindo et al. (2012) investigated that increase in
urease activities with biochar applications due probably to the pro-
tection of enzyme activity by its connection with biochar which is
a higher molecular humic polymer (Khadem and Raiesi, 2017).
Fig. 4B indicated that the biochar amendments slightly signifi-
cantly (p < 0.05) increased the invertase activities, and banana peel
372 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377

Fig. 4. The effects of banana peel waste and its biochar on soil enzymes activities (Urease (A), Invertase (B), Al-phosphatase (C) and ␤-glucosidase (D)) at 25 ◦ C for 90 days
incubation period. No amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel 2% (P2), biochar 1% (B1) and biochar 2% (B2). Error bars represent the standard deviation of
the mean (n = 3). Different letters indicate there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the LSD Means Comparisons between the treatment mean.

waste amendments did not. The highest invertase activity was
detected for the B2 treatment (448 mg kg−1 soil h−1 ) and the lowest
for the P1 treatment (310 mg kg−1 soil h−1 ). The invertase activity
was increased for the B1 (10.2%), B2 (21.4%) and P2 (3.2%) treat-
ments, but decreased in comparison to the control for the P1 (13.5%)
treatment in comparison to the control. Lin et al. (2015) found that
invertase activities were increased with amendments of biochar
with poultry manure compost. Zhang et al., (2017a,b) obtained the
highest invertase activity for the straw treatment over the biochar
treatments. These fluctuations depended on the biochar and feed-
stock properties as well as soil properties (Khadem and Raiesi,
2017), and acceleration of soil enzymes activities as amendments
of peel waste and its biochar may be increased SOC and microbial
activity.
The biochar treatments slightly significantly (p < 0.05) increased
phosphatase activities and peel waste treatments decreased as
compared to control treatment (Fig. 4C). The highest phosphatase
activity was determined for the B1 (37 mg g soil h−1 and the lowest
for the P1 (24 mg g soil h−1 ). Biochar treatments increased phos-
phatase activity in comparison to the control for the B1 (12%) B2
(6%) increased, but peel waste amendments decreased phosphatase
activity for the P1 (37%), and P2 (10%). Zhang et al., (2017a,b) also
confirmed that the highest phosphatase activity for the straw-
derived biochar and the lowest for the straw within a loess soil.
This fact was also established by Bhaduri et al. (2016) that peanut
shell derived biochar increased alkaline phosphatase at a low rate
of biochar amendment. It might be due to liming properties of
biochar and thus increased phosphatase activities with biochar
amendments.
The results of one-way ANOVA showed that addition of peel
waste and biochar amendments significantly (p < 0.05) influenced
on the ␤-glucosidase activities (Fig. 4D). Banana peel waste amend-
ment increased ␤-glucosidase activity for the P1 (8.4%) and P2
(15.5%) treatments and biochar decreased for the B1 (30.6%) and B2
(8.4%) treatments in comparison to the control. Wu et al. (2013) in
a short term experiment found that ␤-glucosidase activities were
improved with increasing rate of wheat straw amendment over
that of the biochar treatment. Bera et al. (2016) evaluated that
biochar amendment decreased in comparison to the dairy effluent
amendment. The present study clarified that the biochar amend-
ment decreased the␤-glucosidase activities in comparison to the
waste and control treatment. It might be due to that the biochar
has liming effect on soil pH and decreased the microbial activities
(MBC and MBN). Our findings are agreed with the previous stud-
ies (Foster et al., 2016; Khadem and Raiesi, 2017). The soil enzyme
activities indicated the microbial activities and labile carbon com-
pounds in the waste and biochar for enzymatic reactions (Khadem
and Raiesi, 2017; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b). It supported to our
findings that biochar has high contents of fixed carbon and low
contents of volatile carbon as compared to banana peels waste.
3.7. Greenhouse gas emissions under banana peel waste and its
biochar amendments
3.7.1. Carbon dioxide emissions
The impacts of biochar and organic wastes (manure, crop
residue and sewage sludge) amendments on the emissions of GHG
had normally assessed in laboratory and field trials (Ibrahim et al.,
 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377
Fig. 5. The influences of banana peel waste and its biochar on CO2 emissions (a) and
cumulative CO2 -C (b). no an amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel
2% (P2), biochar 1% (B1) and biochar 2% (B2) at 25 ◦ C for 90 days incubation period.
Error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean (n = 3). Different letters
indicate there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the LSD Means Comparisons
between the treatment means.
2016; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b; Korai et al., 2018; Sheng and Zhu,
2018; Foster et al., 2016). Lan et al. (2017) expressed that biochar
and feedstock’s applications increased/or decreased soil carbon
mineralization depending on the soil properties. The CO2 emissions
were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by biochar and waste treat-
ments (Fig. 5a). Biochar amendments exposed lower CO2 fluxes
rates than banana peel waste amendments during entire incuba-
tion period, and at the initial 24 h CO2 emissions were high for all
treatments. From 2 to 7 days CO2 emissions were greater for all
treatments except control, and the fluctuations in emissions rates
among the waste and biochar treatments gradually decreased with
time after 52 days. The banana peel waste amendment had higher
cumulative CO2 emissions over the biochar amendment and control
throughout the incubation period (Fig. 5b). The biochar treatments
significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the CO2 emissions in comparison
to the P1 and P2 by 20.2% and 24.3%, respectively, for the B1 treat-
ment, and for the B2 by 24.3% and 42.2%, respectively. Zhu et al.
(2017) evaluated that the amendment of biochar as C to soils lead
to an abundant percentage of sequestered C compared with other
forms of organic matter addition (crop residues) which are rapidly
mineralized and released as CO2 . Gascó et al. (2016) observed that
biochar decreased the CO2 emissions in contrast to soil incorpo-
rated with pig manure waste. The application of banana peel waste
displayed higher soil CO2 emissions rates and cumulative values,
and it may be due to that waste tending higher fluently decom-
posable organic compounds, resulting in an important loss of OC
with intense microbial degradation of its liable carbon fractions.
The waste amendments released labile organic carbon which pro-
vide the favorable conditions for microbes and cause increasing
373
soil respiration and cumulative CO2 emissions (Zhu et al., 2017; El-
Naggar et al., 2015). In present study, MBC and MBN concentrations
increased for the banana peel waste amendment, might acceler-
ate the soil respiration and increase cumulative CO2 emissions
over the biochar amendment. We observed that MBC, MBN and
␤-glucosidase activities were positive correlation with CO2 emis-
sion for the peel waste amendment and negative correlation with
biochar amendment (Fig. 2). The biochar amendment decreased
the CO2 emissions, indicating the immobilization of soil organic
carbon and decrease in microbes’ activity due to the sorption of
nutrients on the biochar surface area (Sheng and Zhu, 2018). There-
fore, the decrease in cumulative emission from soil amendment
with biochar was ascribed to the decrease in soluble components
of soil organic carbon (SOM) for mineralization. The higher con-
tents of volatile matter and lower content of fixed carbon in banana
peels waste is beneficial to microbial growth and accelerates the
soil respiration and increases in cumulative CO2 emissions over the
biochar treatments. In addition, the biochar has high pore space
and surface area over the banana peels waste (Fig.1). The redun-
dancy analysis (RDA) indicated that the positive correlation of CO2
emissions with MBC and MBN (Fig. 2).
3.7.2. Methane emissions
CH4 emissions were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by banana
peel waste and its biochar treatments (Fig. 6a). We found that
CH4 emissions varied throughout the 90 days incubation period
with maximum CH4 emissions recorded during the initial 2 days
in all treatments. The CH4 emissions for the banana peel waste
treatments gradually increased up to day 25, but the biochar treat-
ments showed decreased CH4 emissions in comparison to the peel
waste treatments during the same time period. The peel waste
and biochar treatments increased cumulative CH4 emissions as
compared with the control (Fig. 6b). However, there were signif-
icant differences in the cumulative CH4 emissions between the
peel waste treatments. The rates of CH4 emissions for the biochar
treatments were consistently lower than the CH4 emissions for
the peel waste treatments. The banana peel waste treatments
increased cumulative CH4 emissions by 66.4% for P1 and 81.5% for
P2, respectively, and the biochar treatments increased CH4 emis-
sions by 45.1% for B1 and 55.2% for B2, respectively, as compared
to the control. However, B1 treatments showed decreased cumu-
lative CH4 emissions in comparison to the waste treatments by
25% for P1 and 43% for P2%, respectively, and the B2 treatment
had decreased 16.0% for P1 and 31.0% for P2, respectively. Our
results are in agreement with Shen et al. (2014) that showed the
straw treatments significantly increased CH4 emissions as com-
pared to the biochar and control treatments. The higher biochar
rate reduced the CH4 emissions because the biochar increased soil
pH. The higher CH4 emissions might be due to the fast utilization of
labile organic carbon fractions by methanogenic bacterial commu-
nities (Korai et al., 2018). From this perspective, direct landfilling
and composting of fruit waste caused CH4 emissions (Kimbrough
and Jensen, 2012). The reduction of CH4 emissions for the biochar
amendment is due to the increase in soil aeration and porosity over
the raw material. Our results showed that banana peels waste has
lower quantity of fixed carbon and high quantity of volatile matter
(Table 1) which is favorable environment for microbial populations,
and may release maximum CH4 emissions as compared to biochar
treatments. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicates that CH4 emis-
sions have positive correlation with MBC, MBN and ␤-glucosidase
activities (Fig. 2).
3.7.3. Nitrous oxide emissions
The N2 O emissions fluctuated throughout the incubation period
for all the treatments, with higher fluxes in the control (Fig. 7a).
The largest increases in N2 O emissions were observed from 12 h
374 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377

Fig. 6. The influences of banana peel waste and its biochar on CH4 emissions (a) and cumulative CH4 -C (b). no an amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel
2% (P2), biochar 1% (B1) and biochar 2% (B2) at 25 ◦ C for 90 days incubation period. Error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean (n = 3). Different letters indicate
there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the LSD Means Comparisons between the treatment means.

to 5 days for all treatments, and the biochar treatments exhib-
ited significantly decreased N2 O emissions after 15 days until the
N22 O emission rates remained relatively constant after day 52.
Especially, the B2 amendment displayed the lowest rates of N2 O
emissions after 39 days. There was an increasing trend of N2 O pro-
duction after 45 days for the waste and control treatments, but
higher N2 O emissions were observed from the control treatment.
The cumulative N2 O emissions over the 90 days incubation were
not significantly different between waste application and control
treatments (Fig. 7b). However, biochar treatments decreased 37.1%
for B1 and 54.8% for B2 over the control. Our results are consistent
with the previous studies (Hu et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2017a,b).
Pokharel et al. (2018) recognized that N2 O emissions are pro-
duced by soil microbial activity during nitrification, de-nitrification,
and the nitrifier de-nitrification process. In the current study, the
biochar treatments increased the soil pH values and, thereby, influ-
enced the effectiveness of biochar on nitrification. In comparison,
the banana waste treatments displayed large peaks in N2 O emis-
sions because the soil NH4 + contents were greater than biochar
treatments. Venterea et al. (2015) demonstrated high concentra-
tions of NH4 + commonly constrained the NO2 − conversion to NO3 −
and, thereby, resulted in increased NO2 emissions. NO2 − is usually
considered as a chemically unstable complex ion that quickly con-
verts to NO3 − . While both ions may convert to N2 O (as NH4 + -N),
it is much more likely to happen through the NO3 − route. Biochar
increased adsorption of soil mineral nitrogen (NH4 + -N and NO3 − -
N), decreases the concentration of available N for microorganism
and leads to reduce N2 O emission (Feng and Zhu, 2017). In present
study, biochar application increased the soil pH with reduction of
mineral N, could be sorption of NH4 + -N and NO3 − -N on biochar sur-
face and pore space, and caused reduction in N2 O by emissions as
compared to waste amendments. The high pH of biochar has poten-
tial to accelerate the N2 O by decreasing activity of denitrification
process of bacterial communities that changes the major microbial
source of N2 O from oxidation of denitrification process (Pokharel
et al., 2018). The Redundancy analysis (RDA) is indicated that the
negative correlation of soil NH4 + -N and N2 O emissions with soil pH
(Fig. 2).
 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377 375

Fig. 7. The influences of banana peel waste and its biochar on N2 O emissions (a) and cumulative N2 O-N (b). no an amendment (Control), banana peel 1% (P1), banana peel
2% (P2), biochar 1% (B1) and biochar 2% (B2) at 25 ◦ C for 90 days incubation period. Error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean (n = 3). Different letters indicate
there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the LSD Means Comparisons between the treatment means.

4. Conclusion waste. Furthermore, our study suggests that the banana peel waste
conversion to biochar should be tested in long term field experi-
Our study indicated that using banana peels waste for the pro- ments for ecosystem management strategies aiming at reduction
duction of biochar may reduce the economic and environmental of GHG emissions and improvement of soil biochemical properties.
losses. It may be a practicable solution to perform pyrolysis of
banana peel waste, which showed beneficial effects on GHG emis-
Acknowledgments
sions and soil biochemical properties. After pyrolysis of peel waste
conversion into biochar, it occurred high contents of fixed carbon
The authors would like to express appreciation to the China
and low content of volatile matter, high surface area and pore space.
Scholarship Council (CSC)National Natural Science Foundation of
The biochar application was effective in reducing the cumulative
China(41371234), and the Thousand Youth Talents Plan Project
CO2 , CH4 and N2 O over the peels waste amendment. Biochar signif-
(Y472241001) for providing funding that allowed this research
icantly improved soil biochemical properties as compared to peel
project to occur.
376 T.A. Sial et al. / Process Safety and Environmental Protection 122 (2019) 366–377
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