The research used a single factor Completely Randomized Design (CRD), as a treatment that is the difference in the composition of compost materials arranged in 6 levels: KP1; KP2; KP3; P1; P2, and P3. Each treatment was carried out in 3 repetitions; hence it obtained 18 experimental units [19] .
The stages involved were:
(1) Inoculum development,
(2) Inoculum application in pineapple litter composting.
Inoculum development was made using modification of Gaind et al. method [20] (
link). Corn grains were used as substitute for fungal strain growth. The corn grains were finely ground and sifted before it was mixed with 4% calcium sulphate, and 2% calcium carbonate (in 1 L distilled water). A loopful of
Aspergillus sp. culture was inoculated in each 100 g corn grains added with 25 mL of solutions (sterilized at 15 lb pressure for 1 h) and incubated at 25 °C for 15 days. Each strain's whole growth, including mycelium, spores, and the grains, was used as the inoculum. The inoculum was counted for the number of spores and viability by calculating CFUs [18] .
Composting was carried out by modifying the Takakura Home Method (THM) [21] , for 7 weeks. The composting process was carried out in a perforated basket with a lid. Basket was lined with cardboard to keep the conditions moist when composting. Next, compost materials were put in the basket and add with
Aspergillus sp inoculum.
The composition of raw materials were pineapple leaf, stem litters and mixture of both created into 6 treatments (KP1, KP2, KP3, P1, P2, and P3; K = treatments without inoculum), as the following details,
KP1 = pineapple leaf litter:cow manure (2:1)
KP2 = pineapple stem litter:cow manure (2:1)
KP3 = pineapple leaf litter:pineapple stem litter:cow manure (1:1:1)
P1 = pineapple leaf litter:cow manure (2:1) + 1% inoculum (30 g)
P2 = pineapple stem litter:cow manure (2:1) + 1% inoculum (30 g)
P3 = pineapple leaf litter: pineapple stem litter: cow manure (1:1:1) + 1% inoculum (30 g)
The compost quality testing was carried out by analyzing the levels of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and C/N ratio. Total organic carbon was determined using wet digestion method [22] (
link). Nitrogen totals were calculated by the Kjeldahl method [23] . Phosphorus was measured by a spectrophotometer using phosphomolybdate blue method [24] (
link). Potassium was measured by a flame photometer.
Irawan B., Saputra A., Farisi S., Yulianty Y., Wahyuningsih S., Noviany N., Yandri Y, & Hadi S. (2023). The use of cellulolytic Aspergillus sp. inoculum to improve the quality of Pineapple compost. AIMS Microbiology, 9(1), 41-54.