title: Plant uptake of phosphorus and nitrogen recycled from synthetic source-separated urine.
abstract: Urine contains about 50 % of the phosphorus (P) and about 90 % of the nitrogen (N) excreted by humans and is therefore an interesting substrate for nutrient recovery. Source-separated urine can be used to precipitate struvite or, through a newly developed technology, nitrified urine fertilizer (NUF). In this study, we prepared (33)P radioisotope- and stable (15)N isotope-labeled synthetic NUF (SNUF) and struvite using synthetic urine and determined P and N uptake by greenhouse-grown ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum var. Gemini) fertilized with these products. The P and N in the urine-based fertilizers were as readily plant-available in a slightly acidic soil as the P and N in reference mineral fertilizers. The ryegrass crop recovered 26 % of P applied with both urine-based fertilizers and 72 and 75 % of N applied as struvite and SNUF, respectively. Thus, NUF and urine-derived struvite are valuable N and P recycling fertilizers.
authors: Group of Plant Nutrition, Research Station Eschikon, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Eschikon 33, 8315, Lindau, Switzerland, bonvin.ch@gmail.com.
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Bonvin
authors: Bastian
authors: B
authors: Etter
authors: Kai M
authors: KM
authors: Udert
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Frossard
authors: Simone
authors: S
authors: Nanzer
authors: Federica
authors: F
authors: Tamburini
authors: Astrid
authors: A
authors: Oberson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008129:Lolium / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism*; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen