Composting to sanitize plant‐based waste infected with organisms of plant health importance

• Published in: Plant pathology Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 411 - 417
• Main Authors: Kerins, G., Blackburn, J., Nixon, T., Daly, M., Conyers, C., Pietravalle, S., Noble, R., Henry, C. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2018
• Subjects: Beet necrotic yellow vein virus; Bioassays; Composting; Composts; Europe; exposure duration; fungi; Parasites; Pathogens; plant pathogens; Plant virus diseases; Polymyxa betae; Potato spindle tuber viroid; Potatoes; quarantine; Quarantine regulations; rhizomania; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; sanitization; sanitizing; Sugar; sugar beet; Synchytrium endobioticum; temperature; Test organisms; tubers; Viability; Viruses; Wart disease; waste; wastes; Yellow vein disease; Europe
• ISSN: 0032-0862; 1365-3059
• DOI: 10.1111/ppa.12729

The potential for using the composting process to sanitize plant waste infected with one of three plant pathogens was investigated using bench‐scale composting equipment. Two of these pathogens, the potato wart disease fungus Synchytrium endobioticum and Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) are currently subject to European quarantine regulations. The third, Polymyxa betae, a parasite of sugar beet, is regulated in some European countries when in association with Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV), the causal organism of rhizomania disease of sugar beet. Survival of test organisms following various combinations of compost temperature, exposure time and moisture was determined using RNA‐based detection methodology and/or plant‐based bioassays. Mathematically definable relationships between compost treatment (temperature/time) and organism viability were identified for P. betae and S. endobioticum; these give some indication of the practicality of using composting for dealing with infected wastes. However, for PSTVd, the considerable variability in measured susceptibility of the viroid to the composting process meant that no such definable relationship could be determined and further work would be needed to extrapolate to practical situations.