## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbiological Parameters  
The population dynamics of microorganisms, specifically aerobic mesophilic bacteria and fungi, present in the biodegraded waste are detailed in Table 3. The table shows the mean concentrations of the microorganisms in each type of waste according to the treatment applied. In general, the highest microbial population density was recorded in the waste treated with treatment T1 (control), while the lowest microbial population density was reported in the waste biodegraded with treatment T2. The sugarcane residues with the highest degree of maturation, corresponding to treatment T4, reported an average of 5.30 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\) CFU/g of aerobic mesophilic bacteria \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**M.O.**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Quantity (UFC/g)**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **T1** & **T2** & **T3** & **T4** \\ \hline Aerobic mesophilic & (5.38 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\)) c & (5.43 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\)) a & (1.40 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\)) a & (5.30 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\)) b \\ bacteria & \(\pm\) 0.07 & \(\pm\) 0.45 & \(\pm\) 0.45 & \(\pm\) 0.40 \\ \hline Fungi & (2.50 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\)) c & (6.52 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\)) a & (2.73 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\)) a & (3.03 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\)) a \\  & \(\pm\) 0.50 & \(\pm\) 1.17 & \(\pm\) 0.46 & \(\pm\) 0.45 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Different letters within the same row indicate significant differences between treatments.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Quantification of microorganisms found in biodegraded wastes. and a rate of 3.03 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\) CFU/g of fungi. The combined effects of interacting microbial communities have given improvements in waste biodegradation [49]. The dynamics of bacterial and fungal concentrations in a decomposition process follow a characteristic cycle of increasing and decreasing according to each stage. This cycle directly affects the maturation and final stability of the by-products [49,50]. In this context, the amount of microorganisms in the most degraded waste may also be indicative of a more advanced stage compared to other wastes. Although microbial counts and amino acid profiles were analyzed separately due to their differing nature and scale, their interpretation complements the results obtained from the principal component analysis (PCA). In the biplot (see Figure 1), treatments positioned closer to vectors such as ash and nitrogen (e.g., samples P10 to P12 corresponding to T4) indicate a higher degree of organic matter transformation and greater compost maturity. This clustering can be indirectly associated with increased microbial activity, as effective decomposition processes are typically driven by microbial metabolism. The synergistic effect resulting from the coexistence of bacteria and fungi in a biological compound is known to be the factor that increases degradation kinetics. However, the intensive interaction of microorganisms induces a relatively high degree of metabolic activity, which in turn can trigger undesirable natural self-heating processes. The main damages resulting from self-heating include large volumes of material due to the rupture of compost containers, odor production, attraction of disease vectors, capture of flammable gases, and fires, among others. Microbial balance is essential to obtain a stable humus, avoiding the dominance of anaerobic bacteria, whose nature is associated with contamination and bad odors [51]. The results of this study suggest a biodegradation mechanism in which _Colletotrichum_ spp. and _Rhizopus_ spp. act complementarily in the decomposition of sugarcane residues. Colletotrichum spp. facilitates the initial degradation through lignocellulosic enzymes, weakening the biomass structure, while _Rhizopus_ spp. accelerates the conversion of soluble compounds into simpler metabolites, promoting mineralization.