The crucial roles of citrus branch compost in enhancing soil nutrients, optimizing microbial community structure, and improving fruit quality over its raw materials

The crucial roles of citrus branch compost in enhancing soil nutrients, optimizing microbial community structure, and improving fruit quality over its raw materials | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The crucial roles of citrus branch compost in enhancing soil nutrients, optimizing microbial community structure, and improving fruit quality over its raw materials Jinye Li, Songwei Wu, Jixiang Zheng, Xuecheng Sun, Qiling Tan, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8626220/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Plant and Soil → Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aims Fruit harvesting and branch pruning are key drivers of soil acidification in citrus orchards. Compost fermented from citrus waste and acid soil amendments may effectively mitigate soil acidification. At present, limited research has been conducted on the effects of compost and its raw materials on soil amelioration and fruit quality enhancement. Methods We applied chemical fertilizers (CK), citrus branch compost (CC) and its raw materials including crushed branches (CI), biochar (CB) and microbial inoculant (CM) to ameliorate acidified soil, analyzed soil quality, microbial community, citrus yield and quality, as well as their relationships. Results Applying compost enhanced the soil amelioration effect of raw materials, CC significantly increased soil pH, organic carbonfractions, and available nutrient concentrations, particularly the N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and B. Compared with CK,CC increased soil quality index and yield by 170.8% and 34.6% respectively in 2023. Furthermore, CC, CB, and CI significantly decreased the diversity and abundance of bacterial community. Notably, CC increased the number of biomarkers and gene abundance of C fixation, P cycling, and N mineralization, decreased the gene abundance of C degradation and nitrification. Conclusions A two-year trial demonstrated that compost application enhanced soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling functions and optimized microbial community structure, thereby improving soil quality and productivity levels in acidified citrus orchards. These findings underscore the advantages of composting lignocellulosic waste as a soil amendment and green, sustainable development strategy. Soil acidification citrus branches compost soil quality microbial community citrus yield and quality Full Text Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Plant and Soil → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 29 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 30 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 30 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 25 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8626220","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":584954789,"identity":"5d7e428a-b5b1-4742-8716-6c0f6f6857e3","order_by":0,"name":"Jinye 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Compost fermented from citrus waste and acid soil amendments may effectively mitigate soil acidification. At present, limited research has been conducted on the effects of compost and its raw materials on soil amelioration and fruit quality enhancement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe applied chemical fertilizers (CK), citrus branch compost (CC) and its raw materials including crushed branches (CI), biochar (CB) and microbial inoculant (CM) to ameliorate acidified soil, analyzed soil quality, microbial community, citrus yield and quality, as well as their relationships.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApplying compost enhanced the soil amelioration effect of raw materials, CC significantly increased soil pH, organic carbonfractions, and available nutrient concentrations, particularly the N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and B. 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