Biostimulation of microbial degradation of crude oil polluted soil using cocoa pod husk and plantain peels were studied in Calabar, Nigeria. Top soil (0-15cm depth) was randomly collected from four points, bulk to form composite sample, sieved and two kilogrammes each were weighed into thirty six plastic buckets, which were then polluted with 250ml of crude oil. The plastic buckets were labeled in single form (COC1, 400CPH, 500CPH, COC2, 400PP, 500PP), and in combined forms (COC3, 200CPH + 200PP, 250CPH + 250PP), with the control as PC1, PC2, PC3 (0g) without crude oil. After treatment, sampling was done 30, 60 and 90 days for microbial analysis. The results shows that combined form of cocoa pod husk + plantain peels presented a high crude oil utilizing bacteria (CUB) counts of 3.21±2.73x106cfug-1 followed by 2.85±2.42x106cfug-1, 2.78±2.14x106cfug-1 for cocoa pod husk and plantain peels respectively, while the crude oil utilizing fungi also shows that combined form of cocoa pod husk + plantain peels presented a high fungi count of 2.87±2.85x106cfug-1 followed by 2.46±2.11x106cfug-1 and 2.37±1.74x106cfug-1 for cocoa pod husk and plantain peels respectively. Sixteen microorganisms were isolated comprising of twelve bacteria species which include: Pseudomonas spp, Micrococcus spp, Bacillus spp, Corynebacterium spp, Proteus spp, Klebsiella spp, Acinetobacter spp, E. coli spp, Streptococcus spp, Staphylococcus spp, Clostridium spp Achromobacter spp and six fungi species Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp, Chrysosporium spp, Mucor spp and Trichoderma spp. The result of this study indicates that cocoa pod husk + plantain peels (1:1) possess a more bio-utilizing potentials than other amendments and thus suggest that the combined form of these wastes should be considered as one of the best options in the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon in the soil.
