## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Optimal Moisture Content and Mature Compost Seeding Amount for Effective Composting  
The six initial moisture contents were plotted against the temperature during the first four days of composting, as shown in Figure 1a. The composting setups with the initial moisture contents of 55-70% had the highest temperature-increasing rates (5.7-5.8 \({}^{\circ}\)C/day), while the setups with the initial moisture contents of 42% and 78% had the lowest temperature-increasing rates of 2.4 and 2.7 \({}^{\circ}\)C/day, respectively. The increase in the compost temperature is an indicator of microbial activity during the composting period [27]. The beginning of the composting period is usually characterized by a dramatic increase in the temperature generated from the aerobic breakdown of the organic matter by the microbial communities present within the compost mixture [28]. A lower moisture content inhibits the microbial activity by hindering the nutrient mobility within the pile. This leads to lower temperature increases [21]. A higher moisture content leads to poor oxygen penetration being required by the aerobic microbes, and thus reduces their activity and shifts biodegradation towards more anoxic conditions which favor the anaerobic microbes [29]. [PERSON] et al. [30] indicated that a 50% moisture content is the minimal requirement for facilitating these microbial activities. From our results, the optimal initial moisture contents of 55-70% were found to be effective for the optimal food waste composting operations.  
Mature compost was added to the compost mixture as an inoculant, thereby enriching the microbial communities within the compost pile. Due to its low moisture content, mature compost can also be used to reduce the total moisture content of the composting mixture [31]. Figure 1b shows the temperature trend of the four setups (0%, 10%, 20% and 30% _w/w_) during the first four days of the composting period. From day 0 to day 1, the temperature increased to more than 45 \({}^{\circ}\)C for all the four setups. A clear difference among the setups started to emerge after the first day. The 0% setup, which did not have any mature compost addition, had the lowest temperature increase. This could be because of the lower microbial population compared to the other setups, indicating that the microbial population plays an important role in the temperature increase during incubation [32]. The highest temperature increase was observed for the 20% setup. On day 2, the temperature for the 20% setup rose to more than 70 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which was higher than all the other setups, and reached 73 \({}^{\circ}\)C on day 3. The seeding proportion of the 30% mature compost did not result in a higher temperature increase. This phenomenon was probably because of a reduction in the initial moisture of the compost mixture caused by the addition of the mature compost, which had a moisture content of only 20%. Our results indicated that seeding the compost mixture with the 20% mature compost was optimal for an effective composting process. However, it should also be noted that by day 4, there was not much difference between the setups, apart from the 0% setup.