Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

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Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Review

Current understanding in conversion and application of tea waste biomass:

A review
Shasha Guo a, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi b, Yuefei Wang a, c, Ping Xu a, c, *
a
Institute of Tea Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
b
College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
c
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou 310058, China

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Thermo-chemical and biological tech­

nologies for tea waste biomass conver­
sion are reviewed.
• Tea waste derived biochar is an ideal
bio-adsorbent on pollutants adsorption.
• Composting can enhance the nutrients
of the bio-fertilizer derived from tea
waste.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Along with the increasing consumption of tea and its extracts, the amount of tea waste grows rapidly, which not
Tea waste biomass only results in huge biomass loss, but also increases environmental stress. In past years, interest has been
Bio-adsorbents attracted on utilization of tea waste biomass, and a lot of work has been carried out. This review summarized the
Conversion
progress in conversion of tea waste by thermo-chemical and biological technologies and analyzed the property of
Composting
the derived products and their performance in applications. It was found that biochar derived from tea waste had
relatively large surface area, porous structures, and abundant functional groups, and could be used as bio-
adsorbents and catalysts and electrochemical energy storage, while the cost of its largescale production
should be evaluated. Profoundly, biological conversion, including ensiling and composting, was suggested to be
an effective way to develop the tea waste biomass in practice due to its low-cost and specific functions.

1. Introduction consumption of tea and its derived products, the amount of tea waste,
mainly including tea residues during the manufacture of tea extracts, un-
Tea, made from Camellia sinensis leaves, is one of the most consumed plucked tea leaves, and pruned branches increased rapidly, which re­
non-alcoholic beverages in the world. According to the report from In­ sults in huge biomass loss and increasing environmental stress as well
ternational Tea Committee, the total consumption of tea in the world has (Wang et al., 2011).
reached above 5.8 million tons in 2019. Meanwhile, tea derived prod­ Pruned tea leaves and tea residues are rich in lignin and hol­
ucts such as bottled tea drinks, instant tea powder, tea seed oil, and tea ocellulose, which are abundant in carboxyl, hydroxyl, phenolic hy­
extracts have risen great popularity. Along with the growing droxyl, and oxyl groups, as well as oxygen-/heteroatoms-containing

* Corresponding author at: Institute of Tea Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Xu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125530
Received 19 May 2021; Received in revised form 4 July 2021; Accepted 6 July 2021
Available online 10 July 2021
0960-8524/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

groups. It has been reported that thermo-chemical technologies such as catalysts, and electrodes of super-capacitors, and (iii) biological con­
pyrolysis can transform waste tea leaves into carbonaceous materials for version technologies and utilizations of tea leaf waste converted into
adsorptive usage (Hussain et al., 2018). The transformed bio-adsorbents animal feed and agricultural compost. Moreover, this paper also dis­
usually exhibit relatively large surface area, porous structures, and cussed the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches and tried to
abundant functional groups. And pruned tea leaves have a high content figure out an effective way to utilize tea waste biomass in practical ap­
of nitrogen functionalities (amino acids and caffeine) which can be plications. Finally, we suggested to develop techniques for the high-
introduced into biochar, making it beneficial as a nitrogen-rich biomass valued and goal-oriented products from tea waste in future.
precursor for preparing contaminant adsorbents (Li et al., 2020a). Bio­
logical technologies including ensiling and composting were employed 2. Thermo-chemical conversion technologies for utilizing tea
to take full advantage of tea wastes from the tea industry. Bioactive waste biomass
components, such as polyphenols, polysaccharide, and water-insoluble
proteins, lignin, and cellulose in tea waste have a series of functions 2.1. Thermo-chemical processing of tea waste for the production of
including oxidation resistance, radio resistance, scavenging free radi­ biochar
cals, and reducing blood glucose, fat, and pressure (Ye et al., 2009).
Thereby it can be speculated that tea waste treated by biological tech­ Tea wastes, like pruned branches, seed shells and tea residues,
nologies might help to reduce the loss of nutrients, and as feedstuff contain high content of lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and other
might improve the disease resistance for animals. organic compounds, which are conducive to form a porous structure and
By now, the overall development and practical applications of con­ large surface area during thermal conversion processes. Thus, the ob­
verting tea waste biomass into bio-adsorbents, agricultural compost, or tained biochar or activated carbon generally performs excellent
animal feed were rarely reviewed comprehensively. In the present work, adsorption capacity. There are several thermo-chemical technologies for
recent advance was summarized on the thermo-chemical and biological tea waste converting to biochar or activated carbon, including pyrolysis,
technologies of tea waste for better understanding the prospective ap­ hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), and gasification. Furthermore,
plications in plants, animals and environment fields. This review focused chemical agents have been largely applied for the modifications of
on: (i) thermo-chemical preparation techniques and physicochemical biochar or activated carbon to obtain better surface properties, surface
properties of tea waste-based pristine or modified biochar, (ii) the ap­ functional groups and novel structures. Therefore, the physicochemical
plications of biochar as bio-adsorbents for wastewater treatment, properties of bio-carbons are influenced by the feedstocks, the activated

Table 1
Thermo-chemical conversion technologies of biochar samples derived from different sources of tea waste.
Feedstock Conversion Operation Product Characteristics Reference
technology
Yield C H N H/C O/C SBET
(%) (m2g− 1)

Tea industry Pyrolysis Tea waste: ZnCl2 = 1:1; 700 ◦ C, 4 h Activated 36.7 79.32 1.79 3.45 0.27 0.14 1066.0 Gundogdu
waste carbon et al., 2012
Green tea Pyrolysis Dried at 105 ◦ C, 20 h; Not activated Carbon 43.1 68.3 1.5 2.2 0.26 0.31 118.1 Gundogdu
processing Activated; Carbonized Carbon: ZnCl2 Activated 39.6 75.5 2.0 3.2 0.32 0.19 706.0 et al., 2013
waste at 700 ◦ C = 2:1 carbon
Carbon: ZnCl2 36.7 79.3 1.8 3.5 0.27 0.14 1066.0
= 1:1
Carbon: ZnCl2 35.8 83.5 1.4 3.9 0.20 0.10 1141.0
= 1:2
Tea waste Pyrolysis Tea waste: H2SO4 = 1:1.5; 200 ◦ C, 24 h Activated 84.2 56.27 3.12 3.70 0.67 0.47 45.5 Duran et al.,
from factory Soaked in 1% NaHCO3 carbon 2011
Waste tea Pyrolysis Pyrolyzed at 300 ◦ C, 2 h Biochar 55.52 70.05 5.24 4.97 0.89 0.21 2.28 Rajapaksha
leaves after Pyrolyzed at 700 ◦ C, 2 h 22.35 85.11 1.98 3.92 0.28 0.08 342.22 et al., 2014
infusion
Tea seed shell Pyrolysis Tea waste: ZnCl2 = 1:1; Dried 110 ◦ C, 6 h; Activated 44.10 / / / / / 1530 Gao et al.,
Pyrolyzed at 500 ◦ C, 1 h carbon 2013a
Tea fruit peel Pyrolysis Dried 110 ◦ C, 6 h; Tea waste: Activated 47.38 / / / / / 1024 Gao et al.,
Pyrolyzed at 500 ◦ C, 40 H3PO4 = 1:1 carbon 2013b
min Tea waste: 46.13 / / / / / 1320
ZnCl2 = 1:1
Factory HTC HTC at 200 C, 5 h
◦
Biochar 55.0 57.01 8.26 0.42 1.74 0.44 9.87 Islam et al.,
rejected tea 2015
Pruned tea HTC Tea waste: ZnCl2 = 3:1; HTC, 120 ◦ C Biochar 80.7 45.28 6.82 0.85 1.81 0.78 2.7 Guo et al.,
branches 5% Urea, HTC for 2 h HTC, 160 ◦ C 65.3 45.85 6.13 1.24 1.60 0.77 5.3 2019
HTC, 200 ◦ C 60.3 48.49 5.92 2.53 1.47 0.67 13.2
HTC, 240 ◦ C 50.5 54.51 5.72 6.76 1.26 0.45 63.1
HTC, 280 ◦ C 43.7 60.34 5.68 7.79 1.13 0.33 58.6
Pruned tea HTC Tea waste: KOH: NH4Cl HTC, 120 ◦ C Biochar 80.9 47.81 6.18 1.31 1.55 0.70 2.9 Guo et al.,
branches = 3:1:1, HTC for 2 h HTC, 160 ◦ C 71.6 48.88 6.29 1.27 1.54 0.67 4.3 2020
HTC, 200 ◦ C 55.3 53.06 6.22 1.96 1.41 0.55 9.2
HTC, 240 ◦ C 34.6 67.97 5.50 5.36 0.97 0.23 18.7
HTC, 280 ◦ C 28.6 71.37 5.64 6.18 0.95 0.18 6.5
Tea factory Microwave Tea waste: H3PO4 = 1:3; Carbonized, Activated / 66.19 3.80 1.63 0.69 0.32 538.2 Yagmur et al.,
waste assist 900 W Microwave 300 ◦ C carbon 2008
heated for 30 s; Carbonized, / 76.30 3.24 1.44 0.51 0.19 1157.0
Carbonized for 1 h 350 ◦ C
Carbonized, / 79.34 2.47 1.43 0.37 0.16 1140.0
550 ◦ C
Carbonized, / 69.96 1.84 2.10 0.32 0.28 864.0
700 ◦ C

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S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

agents, the thermal conversion approaches, and the preparation condi­ 2020b). In recent years, however, hydrothermal carbonization has been
tions such as temperature and time. Table 1 summarized several prep­ particularly attractive for biochar production. As reported, HTC is a
aration conditions of tea waste derived biochar or activated carbon moderate thermal conversion reaction with a relatively low heating
reported in previous studies. temperature (180 to 350 ◦ C) performed in subcritical water with
Temperature affected the physicochemical properties of carbons. autogenous pressures (Kumar et al., 2020). Although comparison study
Rajapaksha et al. (2014) evaluated tea waste derived biochar that was of carbons derived from the same batch of tea waste as the feedstock
pyrolyzed at 300 ◦ C and 700 ◦ C, and found the C content improved from under different thermal conversion modes is lack, it can be seen from the
70.05% to 85.11% when the temperature increased from 300 ◦ C to present literature that the specific surface area of pyrolytic carbons is
700 ◦ C. Besides, the changing tendency of the atomic ratios (such as H/C generally larger than that of hydrothermal carbons. The surface area of
and O/C ratios) can describe the carbonized products of biomass. As the pyrolyzed products is generally larger than those via HTC process, which
hydrogen and oxygen-containing groups released during the thermal is consistent with other reports (Nzediegwu et al., 2020). However, the
conversion process, the H/C and O/C ratios normally showed decrease higher temperature of pyrolysis process is not conducive to the forma­
trends (Nzediegwu et al., 2020). Guo et al. (2019) produced N-doped tea tion of abundant functional groups. SEM (scanning electron microscope)
waste derived biochar through HTC at 120–280 ◦ C. Typical ratios of H/C images of the tea branches waste derived biochar produced through HTC
and O/C of the biochar showed decrease trends with an increasing process at different temperatures (can be seen in supplementary data). It
temperature from 120 to 280 ◦ C (Fig. 1). The atomic ratios of H/C and can be observed that the derived biochar has internal pores and cracks
O/C presented a constant decrease from raw material (tea branches that were probably due to the decomposition of cellulose during thermal
waste, TW) to biochar (tea branches waste biochar at 280 ◦ C, TWBC- process. Spherically shaped carbon particles appeared on the biochar
280), following a good dehydration trend and high level of aromatic surface via HTC. Therefore, HTC is generally contributed to a higher
condensation during the urea/ZnCl2 HTC process. Similar results could biochar yield and an existence of special morphological and functional
also be found in research about another lignocellulosic biomass derived characteristics on the biochar surface (Liu and Liu, 2020; Xiao et al.,
biochar (wood biochar, WB) (Keiluweit et al., 2010). Accordingly, with 2012). Besides, SEM images also clearly indicate that HTC temperature
the increasing of pyrolysis temperature, the unstable components in affects the porosity of biochar. The biochar produced at 120 ◦ C had
biomass are easily decomposed, causing the reduction of biochar yield typical plant fibrous structure and few visible porous structures, while
and the atomic ratios of H/C and O/C. The pore wall of the biomass the biochar produced at 200 ◦ C and 240 ◦ C showed more microporous
became thinner and even collapsed under high temperature, indicating and mesoporous particles appeared on the surface. As shown above, it
the production of highly carbonized biochar. can be considered that temperature affects the degradation process of
In addition to elemental composition changes, the carbonized tem­ different components of biomass thereby significantly influenced the
perature affects a lot on the surface area of biochar or activated carbon. biochar yield, as well as the chemical and physical properties changes.
A considerable increase could be found in surface area (from 2.28 m2g− 1 Furthermore, chemically activated agents including inorganic acid
to 342.22 m2g− 1) with the increasing pyrolysis temperature from 300 ◦ C (sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid), hydroxide (potassium hydroxide) and
to 700 ◦ C (Rajapaksha et al., 2014). Large surface area is usually con­ inorganic salt (zinc chloride) were widely utilized for biochar activation
nected with good performance including adsorption capacity, water (Huang et al., 2020). The dried tea residue was mixed with H2SO4
holding ability, remediation efficacy and super-capacitor property. (H2SO4: tea industry waste = 3: 1) and further carbonized at 200 ◦ C for
Yagmur et al. (2008) prepared a series of activated carbons at different 24 h (Duran et al., 2011). The surface area was 45.5 m2g− 1, which was
temperatures from waste tea collected from a tea factory. The BET relatively higher than other biochars prepared under such low pyrolysis
(named after Brunauer, Emmet and Teller) surface area of activated temperature, e.g., rice straw-based biochar at 300 ◦ C: SBET = 2.67 m2g− 1
carbons varied from 538.2 m2g− 1 to 1157.0 m2g− 1 with the carboniza­ (Zong et al., 2021). However, acid or base activation has a drawback of
tion temperature increased from 300 ◦ C to 350 ◦ C. However, a decline of high corrosivity which may decrease the surface characteristics of bio­
surface area (to 864.0 m2g− 1) occurred when the temperature rose up to char (Yaashikaa et al., 2019). The surface area of tea branches derived
700 ◦ C. The reason may be the block of pores due to the collapse of pore biochar activated by KOH was 18.7 m2g− 1 (Guo et al., 2020), which was
structures under high temperature. much lower than that of biochar activated by ZnCl2 (63.1 m2g− 1) at the
Pyrolysis is a biomass thermal conversion processing performed with same HTC temperature (Guo et al., 2019). Such results were consistent
a complete absence of oxygen at temperatures above 400 ◦ C (Li et al., with those in a previous study about pyrolyzed activated carbons

Fig. 1. van Krevelen plot of the biochar samples. (a), tea branches waste derived biochar (data was collected from Guo et al., 2019); (b), Ponderosa pine derived
biochar (data was collected from Keiluweit et al., 2010).

3
S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

derived from tea fruit peel performed by Gao et al. (2013b). In their biochar possessed the best performance with a large surface area and
study, the surface area of ZnCl2-activated carbon was 1320 m2g− 1, well-distributed pore structure.
higher than the H3PO4-activated carbon (1024 m2g− 1). At present, tea bio-carbons are mainly derived from tea leaf residues
Moreover, Gundogdu et al. (2013) discussed the ratio of activating after extraction. Compared with tea seed shells, tea leaf residue-based
agent (ZnCl2) when prepared activated carbons from tea industry waste. activated carbons have a lower specific surface area, which may prob­
The surface area of the pristine carbon (only carbonized) is 118.1 m2g− 1 ably due to their less lignin and cellulose contents and more moisture
and the mesoporous structure ratio is 49.4%. When the ratio of ZnCl2/ content. The higher biomass moisture requires more energy for pre-
TIW (tea industry wastes) was equaled to 2:1, the BET surface area drying treatment and for reaching the pyrolysis temperature
(1141 m2g− 1) and mesoporous structure ratio (77.7%) were increased (Fakayode et al., 2020). Furthermore, different thermochemical con­
compared to the pristine carbon. The result demonstrated that ZnCl2 version technologies are suitable to convert different types of tea waste,
could make a great contribution to the surface area expansion and pores thus, lead to different physical and chemical properties of bio-carbons.
formation. Interestingly, previous studies on other biomass also In general, higher temperature enlarges the graphite-like layers and
concluded similar results. Various activated agents (such as KOH, NaOH, spaces on the surface structure, which are connected with the surface
AlCl3, FeCl3 and ZnCl2) were applied to improve the properties of bio­ area of biochar (Keiluweit et al., 2010). For instance, HTC is suitable for
char (Kula et al., 2008). Clearly, all the activated biochars showed wet biomass, which predrying treatment of the precursors is not needed.
enhanced As(III) adsorption abilities, among them, ZnCl2-activated Hydrochar via HTC process at the typical temperature ranges has lower

Table 2
Heavy metal ions adsorption characteristics by bio-adsorbents from tea waste and other precursors.
Bio-adsorbents Adsorption capacity of heavy metal ions (mg/g) Adsorption model Reference

Cu Pb Zn Cr(VI) Ni Cd Cr
(III)

Spent leaves of green tea bags; Dried at 90.1 Langmuir model Zuorro and
60 ◦ C for 24 h Lavecchia, 2010
Spent leaves of black tea bags; Dried at 129.9
60 ◦ C for 24 h
Waste black tea leaves collected from 166.67 90.91 Freundlich model Malakahmad et al.,
restaurant 2016
Tea waste from Gwalior railway 94% 91% / Thapak et al., 2015
station; H2SO4 activated
Waste green tea leaves after infusion; 0.3116 Pseudo-second-order model; Yang et al., 2016
Ca(OH)2 activated Freundlich model
Waste tea leaves from tea shops; 120.50 Pseudo-second-order model; Shah et al., 2015
Formaldehyde activated Langmuir model
Waste green tea leaves from tea plants 70.73% Pseudo-second-order model; Yang and Cui, 2013
Waste tea leaves from tea plants; 64.10 Langmuir model
Alkali treated (98.54%)
Wastes black tea (fermented) from tea 43.18 Pseudo-second-order model; Weng et al., 2014
manufacturing company; Steam Langmuir model
treated
Waste tea from tea plants 8.64 11.29 Freundlich model Çay et al., 2004
Used green tea leaves after 34.59 Pseudo-second-order model; Jeyaseelan and
consumption Freundlich model Gupta, 2016
Black tea from tea plantations 48 65 Pseudo-second-order model; Amarasinghe and
Freundlich and Langmuir Williams, 2007
models
Woo-lung tea waste from Taiwan; 47 / Ng et al., 2013
Cellulase hydrolyzed
Tea factory waste derived activated 61.0 Pseudo-second-order model; Duran et al., 2011
carbon; Pyrolyzed and H2SO4 Langmuir model
activated
Tea branches waste derived HTC 195.42 157.68 194.36 120.82 Pseudo-second-order model; Guo et al., 2019
biochar (urea/ZnCl2 activated) Langmuir model
Tea branches waste derived HTC 152.67 198.73 162.69 218.12 Pseudo-second-order model; Guo et al., 2020
biochar (NH4Cl/KOH activated) Langmuir model
Tea factory waste biochar 197.5 Pseudo-second-order model; Khalil et al., 2020
Rice husk biochar 195.2 Langmuir model
Mixed waste tea from coffe shop 94.34 Pseudo-second-order model; Cherdchoo et al.,
Coffee ground from coffe shop 87.72 Freundlich model 2019
Sunflower adsorbent 30.3 45.4 27.0 83.3 Pseudo-second-order model; Feizi and Jalali, 2015
Potato adsorbent 41.7 52.6 16.7 90.0 Langmuir model
Canola adsorbent 35.7 41.7 20.8 71.4
Walnut shells adsorbent 38.8 33.3 29.4 76.9
Raw watermelon rind 53.48 Pseudo-second-order model; Husein et al., 2017
Microwave radiated watermelon rind 68.97 Langmuir model
Watermelon rind activated carbon 18.43 Pseudo-second-order model; Oghenejoboh, 2018
Langmuir model
Watermelon rind 6.281 98.063 6.845 Pseudo-second-order model; Liu et al., 2012
Langmuir model
Cucumber peels 88.50 147.06 Pseudo-second-order model; Akkaya and Güzel,
Langmuir model 2013
Potato peels HTC activated carbon; 217 Langmuir model Kyzas and
H3PO4 activated Mitropoulos, 2018

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S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

C content and surface area than biochar through pyrolysis because of mg/g) and Ni (29.4 mg/g) adsorption (Feizi and Jalali 2015). Moreover,
lower hydration. Unlike pyrolysis, HTC can cause the appearance of several chemical modification methods have also been taken to raise the
spherically shaped carbons on the surface. These nanoparticles compose removal efficiency for heavy metal adsorption including pre-treatments
a hydrophilic-hydrophobic structure which is favorable for functional by H2SO4 (Thapak et al., 2015), Ca(OH)2 (Yang et al., 2016) and
groups (containing hydroxyl/phenolic and ether/quinone, etc.) forma­ formaldehyde (Shah et al., 2015). A comparative study exhibited by
tion (Singh et al., 2020). Overall, pyrolysis has several advantages, Yang and Cui (2013) showed that approximately 70.73% of Pb with the
including a high product yield, a rapid conversion time, and a high initial concentration of 50 mg/L could be adsorbed by non-treated green
surface area. The drawbacks mainly contain a high reaction temperature tea residue. However, due to the alkali pre-treatment, ATTR (alkali
as well as a high energy cost, and less content of surface functional treated tea residue) contained additional adsorption sites compared to
groups. Comparatively, the features of HTC are easier pre-treatment the non-treated residue, the removal efficiency of Pb reached up to
process, lower temperature, lower surface area, unique morphological 98.54% with the maximum adsorption capacity of 64.10 mg/g (Yang
structure and chemical functional groups (Sharma et al., 2021). and Cui, 2013). The characterization results also showed that ATTR had
a rougher surface structure and higher porosity than that of the non-
treated green tea residue. Further FTIR (Fourier transform infrared
2.2. Application of tea waste biochar
spectroscopy) analysis demonstrated the carboxyl and hydroxyl func­
tional groups contributed to the adsorption of ATTR for Pb. The
Tea waste derived biochar (activated carbon) can be easily prepared,
adsorption characteristics suggested that electrostatic adsorption
and has unique properties, such as relatively large surface area, porous
(pseudo-second-order model) and chemical adsorption (Langmuir
structures, and abundant functional groups. Hence, it can probably be
isotherm) are the main mechanisms.
widely used as bio-adsorbents for wastewater treatment and soil
Fig. 2 depicted the probable mechanism of removal of environmental
amendment, precursor of catalysts, energy storage devices and
pollutants by biochar. Guo et al. (2019) prepared in situ N-doped waste
nanomaterials.
tea branches biochar through HTC process and performed batch
adsorption experiments about their adsorption efficiencies on Cu, Pb, Zn
2.2.1. Bio-adsorbents
and Cr(VI). Highest adsorption capacities for Cu, Pb, Zn were 195.42,
In recent years, several studies have been focused on the adsorption
157.68 194.36 mg/g at pH 5.0 and 120.82 mg/g for Cr(VI) at pH 2.0.
potential of tea waste derived biochars for various pollutants (heavy
The adsorption models fit pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir
metals, organic dyes, antibiotics, etc.) from wastewater. Although
model, indicating that electrostatic attraction, surface complexation and
wasted tea itself is a good material as an adsorbent (Zuorro and Lav­
chemical adsorption may participate in the integrative adsorption
ecchia 2010), the cost is high. Tea waste derived biochar is considered as
mechanisms, which is similar to other research (Duran et al., 2011;
an effective adsorbent due to the porous structures and abundant surface
Weng et al., 2014; Yang and Cui, 2013). The results may probably due to
functional groups, which led to high affinity for heavy metal ions (Wu
the decomposing of cellulose and lignin via HTC process, which resulted
et al., 2021). Therefore, converting tea waste to biochar by thermal
in a fine structure, enriched carbon sites and severe composition change
treatment is a promising strategy to promote the adsorption capacity.
of tea waste. It was speculated that the possible adsorption mechanisms
Studies indicated that tea waste-based bio-adsorbents commonly per­
involve monolayer molecular adsorption and chemical mechanism, and
formed strong potential for adsorption of a variety of metals (Table 2).
N doping played an important role in heavy metal ions adsorption.
Biochar derived from wasted black tea leaves showed relatively high Zn
Additionally, abundant surface groups of biochar have strong in­
(166.67 mg/g) and Ni (90.91 mg/g) adsorption capacities (Malakahmad
teractions with ions, which is conducive to the adsorption of organic
et al., 2016), which is higher than walnut shells adsorbent for Zn (33.3

Fig. 2. Mechanisms involved in the contaminant removal of tea waste biochar.

5
S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

contaminants showed in Table 3. Rajapaksha et al. (2014) investigated SMT. The adsorption tendency is in agreement with other studies
the sulfamethazine (SMT) removal efficiency of tea waste biochars (Gundogdu et al., 2012; Kazmi et al., 2013).
produced at different temperatures and with or without N2 and steam The adsorption mechanisms were also attributed to different in­
activations. The batch adsorption results showed that the properties of teractions (Fig. 2), such as electrostatic interaction, ion exchange,
large surface area and pore volume promoted SMT removal ability of complexation and cation π interaction (Li et al., 2019b). The cation
biochar. Highest adsorption capacity of 33.81 mg/g occurred at lowest exchange and electrostatic adsorption play an important role for SMT+
pH value (pH = 3) by tea waste biochar produced at 700 ◦ C with steam adsorption at pH 3, because of the π-π interaction between protonated
activation. Pore-filling was considered as one of the possible mecha­ amino groups of SMT and the biochar surface (Rajapaksha et al., 2014).
nisms for SMT adsorption, which was mainly due to the enlarging of The proposed mechanisms are supported by pH effect research on Cr(VI)
surface area and porosity caused by high pyrolysis temperature and adsorption. Several studies confirmed that biochars maintain better
steam treatment. Biochar possessed high micropore volumes and a large adsorption ability in the strong acid region (pH ≤ 2), which demon­
amount of meso- and macropores, which is conducive to the retention of strated that H+ could increase the electrostatic attraction between the

Table 3
Adsorption characteristics of organic contaminants by bio-adsorbents derived from tea waste and other precursors.
Bio-adsorbents Contaminant Adsorption capacity Adsorption model Reference
(mg/g)

Tea seed shell pyrolyzed carbon Methylene blue 324.7 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Gao et al. 2013a
model
Tea fruit peel pyrolyzed carbon; H3PO4 activated 291.5 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Gao et al. 2013b
Tea fruit peel pyrolyzed carbon; ZnCl2 activated 342.5 model
Tea waste from factory 113.1461 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Liu et al. 2018
model
Factory rejected tea HTC biochar 487.4 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Islam et al. 2015
model
Waste tea leaves-based H3PO4 activated carbon 238.1 Pseudo-second-order model; Tuli et al. 2020
Freundlich model
Waste tea leaves-based KOH activated carbon 357.14 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir
model
Waste tea leaves-based ZnCl2 activated carbon 147.06 Pseudo-second-order model;
Freundlich model
Tea industry waste pyrolyzed carbon; ZnCl2 activated Phenol 142.9 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Gundogdu et al. 2012
model
Factory tea waste derived HTC biochar Tetracycline 16.71 Pseudo-first-order model; Langmuir Li et al. 2021
model
Black tea bags Bisphenol A 18.35 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Ifelebuegu et al. 2015
17 β-Estradiol 3.46 model
17 2.44
α-Ethinylestradiol
Waste tea leaves activated carbon Acid blue 25 dye 203.34 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Auta and Hameed 2011
model
Tea waste from 10 local tea vendors Reactive blue 25 dye 28.99 Langmuir model Reza et al. 2016
Infusion tea waste activated carbon with steam Sulfamethazine 33.81 Langmuir model Rajapaksha et al. 2014
activation
Waste green tea leaves pyrolyzed biochar; KHCO3 Sulfadiazine 77.52 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir He et al. 2021
activated model
Waste green tea leaves pyrolyzed biochar; CH3COOK 58.14
activated
Microwave heated Date stone; KOH acitvated Methylene blue 316.1 Langmuir model Foo and Hameed 2011
Coconut leaves; H2SO4 activated 126.6 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Jawad et al. 2016
model
Bamboo dust steam activated carbon 143.2 Langmuir model Kannan and Sundaram,
Groundnut shell steam activated carbon 164.9 2001
Coconut shell steam activated carbon 277.9
Rice husk steam activated carbon 343.5
Rattan sawdust KOH activated carbon Phenol 149.25 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Hameed and Rahman 2008
model
Rice husk KOH/EDTA-4Na activated carbon 215.25 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Lv et al. 2018
model
Coconut spathe KOH activated carbon 120 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Prashanthakumar et al.
model 2018
Pine fruit shells KOH activated carbon 27.10 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Mohammed et al. 2018
model
Agave Americana fibers hydrochar Tetracycline 87.21 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Selmi et al. 2018
model
Magnetic activated carbon from sawdust hydrochars 423.7 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Chen et al. 2017
model
Hydrochars from Argun nut shells Bisphenol A 1162.79 Pseudo-second-order model; Zbair et al. 2018
Freundlich model
Rice husk hydrochars 17 β-Estradiol 38.5 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Ning et al. 2017
model
Montmorillonite/rice husk hydrochars 17 69 Pseudo-second-order model; Langmuir Tian et al. 2018
α-Ethinylestradiol model
Cotton stalks biochar Sulfamethazine 11.8 Langmuir model Sun et al. 2018
Sulfadiazine 10.7

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S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

adsorbent surface and HCrO-4 in Cr(VI) aqueous (Guo et al., 2019; maximum specific capacitance of 330 F/g, as well as the excellent
Jeyaseelan and Gupta 2016; Ng et al., 2013). But as the pH value in­ electrochemical cycle stability (92% initial capacitance was retained
creases, the surface charge becomes negative and electrostatic repulsion after 2000 cycles). Ratnaji and Kennedy (2020) attained high specific
occurred, thus the adsorption decreases. capacitance around 509 F/g with the tea waste derived carbon prepared
However, mechanisms of different adsorption processes are varied by pre-carbonization and chemical activation processes. The desirable
(Amarasinghe and Williams, 2007; Çay et al., 2004; Jeyaseelan and electrochemical performances demonstrated that tea waste acted as a
Gupta, 2016; Malakahmad et al., 2016). Malakahmad et al. (2016) promising biomass source for the preparation of high-performance
considered that the combination of physical adsorption and chemical supercapacitors. It may provide a new opportunity to produce low-
adsorption contributed to the adsorption process, which is consistent cost electrode materials for supercapacitors and high-value and
with the previous study (Amarasinghe and Williams, 2007). Jeyaseelan environment-friendly reuse of tea waste.
and Gupta (2016) found that physical adsorption is dominant, which is As an inexpensive and high-efficiency substituted material, biochar
probably due to the heterogeneous surface of tea waste biochar. Further also has advantages on abundant acid sites and porous structures (Li
comprehensive analysis is needed to integrate the adsorption mecha­ et al., 2019a). Nevertheless, the performance of biochar-based catalysts
nism of biochar for pollutants adsorption. Compared to commercial and supercapacitors still needs improvement. Tea waste-based biochar is
adsorbents, biomass derived adsorbents are inexpensive and can be known as containing enriched chemical compositions and surface
easily prepared through thermal conversion processes. The degradation functional groups, as well as porous structure. Particular properties can
of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose during thermal processes is be optimized by chemical modifications on pristine tea waste. Future
conducive to increase the yield of obtained biochar, enlarge the surface applications of tea waste derived carbons can focus more on these fields.
area and form porous structures. Tea waste as a type of lignocellulose
biomass has high levels of carbon content with low cost. More impor­ 3. Biological conversion technologies of tea waste biomass
tantly, tea also has high contents of caffeine (1–3%) and amino acids
(2–5%), making it to be a natural nitrogen-rich material. Therefore, tea 3.1. Ensiling of tea leaf waste
waste resources are considered to be the ideal precursor for in situ
preparation of N-doped biomass derived bio-adsorbents. Recently, With the increasing problem between food shortage and the world’s
Khalil et al. (2020) prepared tea factory waste-based biochar and rice population growth, the awareness of utilizing agricultural byproducts as
husk-based biochar, and employed them for Cr(VI) adsorption. It was animal feed has been increased. Active ingredients are abundant in tea
found that tea waste biochar is superior to rice husk biochar on Cr(VI) such as tea polyphenols (catechins), proteins, theanine, and minerals.
adsorption. Similar results were reported by Cherdchoo et al. (2019) Nowadays, tea residues obtained after the functional components’
before, of which mixed waste tea showed better Cr(VI) adsorptive ca­ extraction retained some insoluble proteins, minerals, and phenolic
pacity than coffee ground. However, some of the adsorption experiments compounds, suggesting the potential application of tea waste to be an­
of pollutants by bio-adsorbents were performed under different pa­ imal feed. The chemical composition of spent green and black tea leaves
rameters, such as different adsorbent dosage, pH value and initial con­ was characterized and the potential usage of feedstuff additive was
centration of the solutions, reaction time and temperatures. Thus, it is discussed (Ramdani et al., 2013). It can be found that the spent tea
difficult to tell the adsorptive performance simply by the adsorption leaves are good additives of protein, fiber, secondary metabolites, and
capacity in the different studies. The relevant comparative studies still minerals for ruminant diets.
remain insufficient. Future experiments are expected to study this Recently, there have been many reports about tea waste as feedstuff
aspect. on animals (Table 4). Nasehi et al. (2018) conducted the experiment on
the effect of different levels of green tea waste and found that the lambs’
2.2.2. Catalysts and electrochemical energy storage average daily gain and the feed conversion ratio have been improved by
In addition to bio-adsorbents, biochar has also been widely used as the addition of 20 g/kg green tea waste in the diet. The crude protein
the precursor of catalysts or electrochemical energy storage (Fernández- digestibility and N retention were significantly higher than other
Sanromán et al., 2021; Leng et al., 2020). The relatively larger specific treatments. Moreover, methane emission has been reduced, which may
surface area and abundant surface functional groups of biochar become attribute to the tea saponins and phenolic compounds in the green tea
the potential advantages on its catalytic activity. Therefore, biochar is an waste. Kondo’s group performed a series of in vivo and in vitro studies
effective supporting material for catalyst (Mateo et al., 2020). Recently, about the effects on animals fed with tea waste added in silage. As re­
Akbayrak et al. (2020) reported tea waste derived biochar as an ideal ported, the addition of green tea waste improved the lactic acid bacteria
supporting material for metal nanoparticles, and further applied as growth and fermentation during ensiling (Kondo et al., 2004a). Further
catalyst in ammonia borane hydrolyzation. The activated biochar was study considered that the addition of tea waste is more effective when
successfully prepared from tea waste and showed high porous and sur­ the mixture forage materials were not insufficient for lactic acid pro­
face area (2259 m2g− 1). Interestingly, the activity of tea waste derived duction (Kondo et al., 2006). Kondo et al. (2007a) offered ensiled green
biochar was found to be higher than other samples in the hydrolysis of tea waste to goats as feedstuff, and found that longer time has been taken
ammonia borane. Hence, it is believed that the preparation of tea waste for completely eating the tea waste silage diet than the control. The
derived biochar is expectedly to be used in extension fields, such as results demonstrated that ensiled green tea waste is useful as an additive
chemical production process, energy production field and bio-refinery for goats with nutritive value. Moreover, tea waste silage might be a
fields (including biodiesel production, syngas production and biomass protein supplement as it contained 22–35% of crude protein. Green tea
hydrolysis). waste silage with 130 g/kg crude protein of diet was supplied for
Due to the high surface area, porous structures, high electric con­ growing cattle, the performance was similar to that obtained with
ductivity and availability, using tea waste derived biochar as electrodes lucerne hay cube (Kondo et al., 2004b). Additionally, crude protein
for electrochemical energy storage devices has attracted increasing in­ content, N digestibility and N retention were also high when treated by
terest recently (Bhoyate et al., 2017; Gurten et al., 2015; Ma et al., 2017; adding green tea waste into goats’ silage (Kondo et al., 2004c).
Peng et al., 2013; Ratnaji and Kennedy, 2020; Sankar et al., 2019; Song Tea polyphenols, especially catechins exhibit excellent antioxidant
et al., 2019; Yaglikci et al., 2019). Peng et al. (2013) prepared activated activity, therefore are generally have the properties of anticarcinogenic,
carbons (ACs) from five types of wasted tea leaves through high- antimutagenic, and cardioprotective (Xu et al., 2020). It has been re­
temperature carbonization and KOH activation. Experiments were per­ ported that with the addition of green tea residue to oat silage, its
formed to discuss the capacitive behaviors for the ACs as electrodes. It’s fermentation characteristics have been improved and the protein di­
worth noting that they exhibit ideal capacitive abilities with the gestibility and feed intake have been increased (Kondo et al., 2004c).

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Table 4
Property and application of ensiled tea leaf waste.
Additives Ensiled tea leaf waste Reference

Feedstuff Property Animal Effect

Spent green tea / 141 g/kg DM; CP, 252 g/kg DM; TP, / High levels of plant secondary metabolites Ramdani
leaves 130 g/kg DM; TT, 126 g/kg DM; TS, et al. 2013
70.1 g/kg DM
Spent black tea 131 g/kg DM; CP, 240 g/kg DM; TP,
leaves 99 g/kg DM; TT, 90.2 g/kg DM; TS,
39.3 g/kg DM
Green tea waste (20 Alfalfa hay 894.1 g/kg DM; CP, 155 g/kg DM; Chall male lamb Improve CP digestibility, N retention; Reduce Nasehi et al.
g/kg) TT, 4.1 g/kg DM; TS, 6.1 g/kg DM methane emission 2018
Wet green tea waste Oat 201.1 g/kg DM; CP, 282.6 g/kg DM; / Improve the lactic acid bacteria growth Kondo et al.
(50 g/kg) TP, 92.5 g/kg DM 2004a
Green tea waste Timothy hay 199 g/kg DM; CP, 337 g/kg DM; TP, Black beef cattle Reduce gas production; As protein supplement Kondo et al.
109.8 g/kg DM; TT, 89.7 g/kg DM 2004b
Green tea waste (50 Oat 339 g/kg DM; CP, 60.9 g/kg DM; TP, Goat Increased N retention; Stable proteins during Kondo et al.
g/kg) 11.4 g/kg DM; TT, 2.9 g/kg DM ensiling 2004c
Green tea waste Oat 226 g/kg DM; CP, 81.4 g/kg DM; TP,
(200 g/kg) 18.8 g/kg DM; TT, 9.0 g/kg DM
Green tea waste Sudangrass 326.5 g/kg DM; N, 45.9 g/kg DM; TP / Increased the total N, tannins, gas production Kondo et al.
(200 g/kg) 97.6 g/kg DM; TT 82.5 g/kg DM 2004d
Black tea waste 224 g/kg DM; N, 39.5 g/kg DM; TP, Increased the total N and tannins; Reduce gas
(200 g/kg) 87.8 g/kg DM; TT, 70.6 g/kg DM production
Oolong tea waste 288 g/kg DM; N, 33.4 g/kg DM; TP Increased the total N and tannins; Reduce gas
(200 g/kg) 69.6 g/kg DM; TT, 55.8 g/kg DM production
Green tea waste Tofu cake, rice straw, 20% DM; CP, 30–36% DM; TT, 8.5% / Reduce tannin content; Increase in vitro ruminal Kondo et al.
(10%) rice bran DM gas production 2006
Green tea by- Timothy hay, 19.4% DM; CP, 32.6% DM; TP, Goat Prolong the eating time Kondo et al.
product silage corn, wheat bran, 12.81%DM; TT 10.09% DM 2007a
(5%) soybean meal, alfalfa
Oven-dried green hay 95.3% DM; CP, 31.9% DM; TP,
tea by-product 8.26% DM; TT, 7.32% DM
(5%)
Black tea waste (10 Timothy hay, soybean 442.3 g/kg DM; CP, 12.2% DM; TT, Goat Protect protein degradation; Decrease CP Kondo et al.
g/kg) meal 0.73% DM digestibility 2007b
Green tea by- 196 g/kg DM; CP, 292 g/kg DM; TP, / Lower responses to gas production and NH3-N Kondo et al.
product 81 g/kg DM; TT, 74 g/kg DM concentration from green tea by-product than 2014a
Black tea by- 183 g/kg DM; CP, 290 g/kg DM; TP, black tea by-product
product 94 g/kg DM; TT, 70 g/kg DM
Green tea by- 196 g/kg DM; CP, 336 g/kg DM; TP, / Lower responses to gas production and NH3-N Kondo et al.
product 83.4 g/kg DM; TT, 76.5 g/kg DM concentration from green tea by-product than 2014b
Black tea by- 201 g/kg DM; CP, 283 g/kg DM; TP, black tea by-product
product 84.8 g/kg DM; TT, 66.6 g/kg DM
Spent green tea 205 g/kg DM; CP, 356 g/kg DM; TP, Increase rumen undegradable protein Kondo et al.
leaves 113.3 g/kg DM; TT, 95.7 g/kg DM 2018
Spent black tea 217 g/kg DM; CP, 260 g/kg DM; TP, Decrease gas production and protein digestibility
leaves 78.4 g/kg DM; TT, 60.8 g/kg DM
Saponin extracted / 87.68% DM; CP, 15.41% DM / Improve rumen fermentation; Reduce methane Jadhav et al.
from tea seeds production 2018
(70%)
Saponin extracted Maize stover, corn, / Xiangdong black Decrease the triacylglycerols concentration of Zhou et al.
from tea leaves soybean meal, etc. wethers goat plasma 2012

Note: DM, dry matter; CP, crude protein; TP, total phenols; TT, total tannins; TS, total saponins; N, nitrogen.

Kondo et al. (2007b) evaluated the anti-nutritive activity of catechins in et al., 2018).
tea residues, and found that 10 g/kg black tea waste additive of dry Tea saponin is also a kind of bioactive compound that can reduce the
matter reduced the amount of ammonia nitrogen in in vitro condition. It production of methane and the amount of ammonia-N. Various ratios of
has been reported that the antioxidative activity of well-fermented tea tea saponin and in vitro rumen fermentation with different forage have
waste silage can be preserved without the usage of bacterial additive. been performed to find the effect on rumen fermentation and methane
Although ECG and EGCG were considerably reduced, total phenols and production (Jadhav et al., 2018). Results suggested that tea saponin has
antioxidative activity remained (Nishino et al., 2007). Comparations the potential to reduce methane production and positively impact
have been carried out among green tea, oolong tea and black tea wastes rumen fermentation. Besides, nutrient digestibility and patterns of
added silage (Kondo et al., 2004d). The results showed that all the three rumen fermentation were not affected by the addition of tea saponins
kinds of tea waste additives contain large amounts of nitrogen (N) and (Zhou et al., 2012). Interestingly, it can increase the antioxidant ability
tannins, which are beneficial to improve low-quality silage. The silage of the goats by decrease the triacylglycerols concentration of plasma.
treated with green tea waste resulted in in vitro gas production increase In addition to these studies, several researches investigated the effect
and ruminal degradation, indicated that green tea waste is more valu­ of tea bioactive extracts as dietary supplements on animal’s meat quality
able as additives (Kondo et al., 2004d). Moreover, latest studies (Cimmino et al., 2018; Zhong et al., 2009). Tea catechin is reported to be
exhibited that black tea waste did more strongly than green tea waste on a natural antioxidant for modulating antioxidant status, improving fresh
the suppression of rumen fermentation caused by tannins (Kondo et al., meat color stability and enhancing integrity of cellular membrane
2014a; Kondo et al., 2014b). Therefore, green tea waste is more po­ (Zhong et al., 2009). Polyphenols as dietary supplement can also
tential to be an alternative additive source for ruminant feedstuff (Kondo improve fatty acid and reduce the content of malondialdehyde (MDA),

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thus inhibit oxidation (Cimmino et al., 2018). Generally, proper amount was reported by Abbiramy et al. (2015), in which the tea factory waste
of tea polyphenols in silage as animal feed can improve the growth combined with cow dung were vermi-composted and used for mush­
performance, muscle and meat quality, antimutagenic and other char­ room cultivation. As a result, the tea factory waste was converted into
acteristics of animals. Tea waste contains a certain amount of tea value added vermi-compost and effectively improve mushroom
polyphenols as well as other bioactive components. The application of production.
tea waste as feedstuff can supplement the lack of nutrients in forage and Several studies on bioconversion of tea waste through vermi­
cut down the economic cost, which is beneficial both economically and composting demonstrated that tea waste is necessary for earthworm’s
environmentally. living, and it has successfully been transformed from solid waste into a
As mentioned above, alternatives or additives for animal feed are nutrient-rich vermi-compost (Arumugam et al., 2017; Ghosh et al.,
necessary to relieve the feed resource pressure. Currently, ensiling of 2018; Mahaly et al., 2018; Badhwar et al., 2020). For instance, Ghosh
forages has become a promising method for preservation of feedstuffs et al. (2018) verified that vermi-compost of tea factory waste with cattle
and promote livestock production. It is because the process of ensiling manure showed better quality than vermicompost of 100% cattle
reduces the contents of oxygen and water-soluble carbohydrates (Koc manure. It indicated that vermicomposting of tea factory waste can
et al., 2009). Legumes, cereals, vegetable and fruit residues are common reuse and stabilize the waste as well as enhance nutrients content.
plant sources used for ensiling. Legumes such as faba bean (Vicia faba), Similarly, Mahaly et al. (2018) performed vermicomposting of 60%
pea (Pisum sativum) and lupins (Lupinus sp.) are applied for animal feed. distillery sludge waste (DSW) with 40% tea leaf residues for 45 days.
However, most of them are also edible by humans, so that are restricted Badhwar et al. (2020) also added 40% tea leaf waste into 60% cow dung
for large-scale animal feedstuff. Cereals like corn and wheat have the (CD) for 90 days of vermicomposting. Obviously, as the biotransfor­
similar drawback to legumes. Vegetable and fruit residues are easily mation proceeds, the TOC (total organic carbon) content declined from
perishable and are often seasonal. In comparison, tea leaf waste is 42% to 35% and 54% to 46% after 45 days and 90 days of vermi-
mainly from by-products after deep processing or annual pruning from conversion in the two literature, respectively (Fig. 3). Lower TOC con­
tea plantations. It is large in amount and is available all year round. tent indicates that the compost has high maturity and rich humus con­
However, because of the high tannin contents, the palatability of tea tent. In contrast, the contents of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus
leaves is relatively poor, especially for non-ruminant animals (Villas- (TP), and total potassium (TK) showed upward trends during vermi­
Bôas et al., 2002). Besides, the high moisture content of tea leaf waste composting. Hence, C/N ratio reduces during composting due to the
limits its direct use as feedstuff. Therefore, ensiling could be one of the decline of TOC content and the increase of TN content. C/N ratio can
suitable ways to preserve high-moisture tea leaf waste. In view of the directly relate to the nutrients necessity for microbial activities and
nutritive properties of tea leaf waste, it has caused widespread concerns become an important parameter to denote the degree of solid waste
as a nutrient supplementary and an effective animal feed source. biotransformation (Lv et al., 2018). It is considered that the range of
Overall, tea leaf waste as silage has high nutrient values and exhibits 25–30 of C/N ratios might promote the degradation of organic sub­
positive advantages on feed intake, digestibility, gas production and strates (Zhang and Sun, 2014). Therefore, C/N ratio should be con­
rumen fermentation for ruminants. cerned for recycling solid wastes into a perfect soil amendment while
vermicomposting.
3.2. Composting of tea leaf waste In addition to vermicomposting, aerobic co-composting is also a
potential method to convert tea waste into high value product. Green tea
Mangwandi et al. (2014) mixed waste tea leaves after infusion with waste was co-composted with swine manure and wheat straw, and the
limestone powder at a certain proportion to prepare a soil conditioner. effects on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the bacterial commu­
The result demonstrated that it is feasible to prepare a fertilizer mixture nity were investigated (Peng et al., 2020). Clearly, the addition of green
of limestone and tea waste. However, tea waste-based conditioner re­ tea waste effectively inhibited the abundance of ARGs. It demonstrated
quires larger amount of binder due to its high affinity for moisture. that composting of green tea waste is a benefit to limit the spread of
Hence, despite the granules were produced, further compression is ARGs to the food chain and environment, reduce environmental
needed to meet the size of a fertilizer. It has been reported that high contamination and human health damage.
content of lignin and cellulose also restrict the direct application of tea Comprehensively, the main drawbacks of composting are the long
waste as soil conditioner (Ghosh et al., 2018). Therefore, composting has composting time, the large composting space, the stability and maturity
become an effective technique to recycle organic substrates from tea of the obtained compost, and the safety for agricultural application
waste into nutrient-rich fertilizers. Compost is a sustainable biological (Ravindran et al., 2016). Therefore, in-vessel composting technology is
conversion technology with the help of endogenous microorganism’s employed to solve the problem of time and space (Jeong et al., 2020).
colonization. Various types of composting methods have attracted Moreover, co-compost (with sludge, dung, biochar, etc.) and vermi-
attention for waste management to covert waste into high value product compost (with earthworms) are also applied to improve the compost­
(Goswami et al., 2014; Rai and Suthar, 2020; Zhang et al., 2021). Tea ing efficiency. Recently, Zhao et al. (2020) performed experiments about
waste has advantages on nutrient contents (polyphenols and proteins), composting of biowaste materials including chicken manure, dairy
high availability and agricultural safety, thus, making itself a promising manure, cabbage wastes, weed wastes, corn straw wastes, and green
substrate for agricultural compost. wastes. The composting process successfully transformed the organic
Vermicomposting is a low-cost bioconversion technology that the matter into stabilized humic substance. Ravindran et al. (2021)
composting process of recycling solid wastes takes place under a tepid considered that co-composting process is to increase C content and
ambience suitable for earthworms and microorganisms (Mago et al., improve N use efficacy. Tea waste as lignocellulosic biomass is a carbon-
2021; Rini et al., 2020). The composition of compost varies due to the rich material, and is itself a nitrogen-abundant material. It can be seen
nature of precursor materials (Awasthi et al., 2020). Vermicomposting that composting tea waste is an effective and environmentally friendly
was carried out by Kaur et al. (2014) to mix tea leaf waste with cow dung technology for waste reuse, and its product can be used as soil condi­
at different proportions with the existence of exotic earthworms (Eisenia tioners or good-quality fertilizer. Therefore, exploring more approaches
fetida). It has been found that the earthworms’ population increased for tea waste composting is expected to be investigated.
with the increase of tea leaf waste proportion, and reached the highest
survival rate at 80% of tea leaf waste. The vermicomposting mixture 4. Research needs and future directions
showed low electric conductivity and organic carbon content, high
quality and biodegradable. The results indicated that tea leaf waste can The application of waste biomass through thermochemical and bio­
be transformed into valuable manure effectively. Similar experiment logical conversion technologies meets the need for sustainable

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S. Guo et al. Bioresource Technology 338 (2021) 125530

Fig. 3. Changes in pH value (a), electrical conductivity value (b), TOC (c), TN (d), C/N ratio (e), TP (f), and TK (g) during verimi-composting of DSW + TW (data was
collected from Mahaly et al., 2018) and CD + TW (data was collected from Badhwar et al., 2020).

development of waste management (Awasthi et al., 2021; Bhatia et al., it is a challenge to develop tea waste conversion technologies
2018; Sharma et al., 2021; Solangi et al., 2021). The existing evidence which could meet the needs of largescale industrialization. To
indicates that by thermo-chemical and biological conversion, tea waste replace the commercial biochar, high performance-price ratio,
biomass could be applied as bio-adsorbents, catalysts and electro­ largescale production, and satisfied practice applications are
chemical energy storage, biofertilizers, etc., and thus is a kind of required in further.
promising bioresource. However, there are still some gaps in knowledge (3) Technologies for shortening composting time and improving
which limit the utilization of tea waste in practice, and need more composting efficiency are supposed to be highlights of further
attention in further research. investigations. Composting is a time-consuming process, and the
compost maturity is difficult to quantify at present, thus accurate
(1) Modification techniques for tea waste bio-adsorbents to possess temperature and humidity is very important for accelerate the
high adsorptive ability or ability to adsorb specific contaminants. composting, while such information is unclear so far, and the
According to the results in previous studies, the structural effective control of the involved microorganism also needs
collapse during pyrolysis sometimes led to low surface area and exploration. Furthermore, because of tea leaf waste is relatively
porosity, which could result in low adsorption ability. Thus, lack of carbon content, it is better to combine tea waste with
chemical activation and modification are necessary to improve other carbonaceous materials for producing higher organic car­
adsorption capacity and enhance the applicability of biochar, bon content of the compost. Therefore, suitable co-compost
such as introducing heteroatoms. However, strong acid or alkali mixing technologies with various feedstocks is expected to be
activation is corrosivity for surface chemistry while enlarging the developed.
surface area. Abundant surface functional groups such as N-
containing functional groups are benefit to pollutant removal and 5. Conclusions
energy storage of biochar (Leng et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the
cost of chemicals is the major issue to consider. Optimizing the In conclusion, tea waste is a widespread, accessible, and low cost
thermo-chemical conversion is a substitution way for that matter. agricultural bioresource. Tea waste biochar prepared by thermo-
In general, the research direction should shift to developing bio- chemical conversion can be used as efficient bio-adsorbents, while
adsorbents of specific properties without cost-added. low-cost and largescale technologies still need to be explored. Mean­
(2) Largescale and low-cost technologies are needed in production of while, due to the low-cost and specific properties, biological conversion
tea waste biochar. Due to the fact that almost all the previous is suggested to be a promising way to utilize the tea waste biomass in
studies on converting tea waste to biochar are at laboratory scale, practice despite accurate control technologies should be further

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investigated. Feizi, M., Jalali, M., 2015. Removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions using
sunflower, potato, canola and walnut shell residues. J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 54,
125–136.
CRediT authorship contribution statement Fernández-Sanromán, Á., Lama, G., Pazos, M., Rosales, E., Sanromán, M.Á., 2021.
Bridging the gap to hydrochar production and its application into frameworks of
bioenergy, environmental and biocatalysis areas. Bioresour. Technol. 320, 124399.
Shasha Guo: Investigation, Writing - original draft. Mukesh Kumar Foo, K.Y., Hameed, B.H., 2011. Preparation of activated carbon from date stones by
Awasthi: Writing - review & editing. Yuefei Wang: Writing - review & microwave induced chemical activation: application for methylene blue adsorption.
editing. Ping Xu: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing. Chem. Eng. J. 170, 338–341.
Gao, J.J., Qin, Y.B., Zhou, T., Cao, D.D., Xu, P., Hochstetter, D., Wang, Y.F., 2013a.
Adsorption of methylene blue onto activated carbon produced from tea (Camellia
sinensis L.) seed shells: kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics studies.
Declaration of Competing Interest J. Zhejiang Univ-SC. B 14 (7), 650–658.
Gao, J.J., Kong, D.D., Wang, Y.F., Wu, J., Sun, S.L., Xu, P., 2013b. Production of
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial mesoporous activated carbon from tea fruit peel residues and its evaluation of
methylene blue removal from aqueous solutions. Bioresources 8, 2145–2160.
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence Ghosh, S., Goswami, A.J., Ghosh, G.K., Pramanik, P., 2018. Quantifying the relative role
the work reported in this paper. of phytase and phosphatase enzymes in phosphorus mineralization during
vermicomposting of fibrous tea factory waste. Ecol. Eng. 116, 97–103.
Goswami, L., Sarkar, S., Mukherjee, S., Das, S., Barman, S., Raul, P., Bhattacharyya, P.,
Acknowledgments Mandal, N.C., Bhattacharya, S., Bhattacharya, S.S., 2014. Vermicomposting of Tea
Factory Coal Ash: metal accumulation and metallothionein response in Eisenia fetida
This study was financially supported by the Fundamental Research (Savigny) and Lampito mauritii (Kinberg). Bioresour. Technol. 166, 96–102.
Gundogdu, A., Duran, C., Senturk, H.B., Soylak, M., Ozdes, D., Serencam, H.,
Funds for the Central Universities (2019QNA6020). Imamoglu, M., 2012. Adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution on a low-cost
activated carbon produced from tea industry waste: equilibrium, kinetic, and
thermodynamic study. J. Chem. Eng. Data 57 (10), 2733–2743.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
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