Phytotoxicity and chelating capacity of spent coffee grounds: Two contrasting faces in its use as soil organic amendment
Open accessAbstract
Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are a bioresidue generated in large amounts worldwide, which could be employed as either fresh or transformed organic soil amendment, by means of different treatments in order to improve its agronomic qualities. An in vitro experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of using different bioamendments derived from spent coffee grounds (SCG) on biomass and Zn, Cu and Fe content of lettuces. Application of 7.5% (w/w) fresh SCG, vermicompost, compost, biochars (at 270 and 400 °C; pyrolysis), SCG washed with ethanol and water, and hydrolysed SCG was carried out in an agricultural soil (Cambic Calcisol). In order to compare with conventional agriculture, the addition of NPK fertilizer was also assessed. Only vermicompost and biochar at 400 °C overcome the growth limitation of SCG. However, these treatments diminished Zn, Cu and Fe concentrations in lettuce probably due to the destruction (microbial degradation/thermal treatment) of natural chelating components (polyphenols). Increase in mineral content was observed in those treatments that did not completely eliminate polyphenols. NPK fertilizer gave rise to lettuces with higher biomass but lower micronutrients content. The results lead us to the possible solution for the use of SCG as organic amendment by vermicomposting and biocharization in order to eliminate toxicity.
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Composting SCG (including vermicomposting) reduces SCG inhibitory effects on other plants, including lettuce, attributed to limitation of microbial activity, chelating of caffeine and other toxins, neutralizing pH, and reduction in C:N ratios.
“Previous studies have shown that composting SCG (including vermicomposting) similarly reduced SCG inhibitory effects on other plants, including lettuce.This has been attributed to the limitation of microbial activity, the chelating of caffeine and other toxins, neutralizing pH, and a reduction in C:N ratios [27,28,31,55,56].”
From Spent Coffee Grounds Applied as a Top-Dressing or Incorporated into the Soil Can Improve Plant Growth While Reducing Slug Herbivory (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAttaining a balance between the benefits and drawbacks of using spent coffee grounds in agriculture and horticulture depends on factors including the crop species, the age of the spent coffee grounds, the composting process, the volume applied to the soil, and the method of application.
“Based on previous research, attaining a balance between the benefits and drawbacks of using SCG in agriculture and horticulture will depend on a range of factors including the crop species, the age of SCG, the composting process, the volume applied to the soil, and the method of application, among others [19,20,22,28,30].”
From Spent Coffee Grounds Applied as a Top-Dressing or Incorporated into the Soil Can Improve Plant Growth While Reducing Slug Herbivory (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
The Introduction and §3.2 report that fresh spent coffee grounds inhibit plant growth and that composting or other pretreatments can reduce this effect, supporting the importance of processing. Sections 2.3 and 3.3 examine a 40-day incubation, but the study uses only lettuce, a single 7.5% application rate, and one soil-mixing method. It therefore does not establish how the balance varies with crop species, application volume, or application method. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSCG-derived composts and bioconversion products can improve plant growth.
“Whereas SCG-derived composts and bioconversion products can improve plant growth [28,30], the effects of composting SCG on some of their other possible benefits have not been assessed.”
From Spent Coffee Grounds Applied as a Top-Dressing or Incorporated into the Soil Can Improve Plant Growth While Reducing Slug Herbivory (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Cervera-Mata, A., Navarro-Alarcón, M., Rufián-Henares, J. Á., Pastoriza, S., Montilla-Gómez, J., & Delgado, G.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-05
- Volume
- 717
- Pages
- 137247
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3006267112
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 6.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Universidad de Granada
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Composting and Vermicomposting Techniques
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Agriculture, Plant Science, Crop Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
- Keywords
- spent coffee grounds, phytotoxicity, organic amendments, vermicompost, biochar, polyphenols, lettuce, micronutrient uptake, zinc, copper, iron, hydrolysis, NPK fertilizer
- MeSH terms
- Composting, Agriculture, Charcoal, Chelating Agents, Coffee, Fertilizers, Soil
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