Improving biomethane production from co-digestion of fruit and vegetable waste through inoculum mixtures and recirculation of liquid biofertilizer

Improving biomethane production from co-digestion of fruit and vegetable waste through inoculum mixtures and recirculation of liquid biofertilizer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Improving biomethane production from co-digestion of fruit and vegetable waste through inoculum mixtures and recirculation of liquid biofertilizer Daniela dos Santos Santana, Jonathan da Cunha Teixeira, Maria Odete Holanda Mariano, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7235898/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 18 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In Brazil, there are 41 food supply centers, and 72 warehouses distributed in 22 Federation Units, which generate about 42,000 tons of organic waste monthly, normally destined for landfills. This study investigated the energy use of these residues for different inocula and liquid biofertilizer to increase biomethane production in the anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable residues (VWF). The experiment used waste collected from the CEASA-PE supply center, which generates about 990 tons of organic waste per month. Different inoculum mixtures, composed of digestate, rumen liquid and anaerobic domestic sludge, were tested in combination with a liquid biofertilizer co-product. The application of the experimental design of mixtures based on the centroid simplex method and the response surface methodology, allowed us to systematically evaluate the interactions between the inocula and identify optimal proportions to produce biomethane. The results revealed that the combination of 25% biofertilizer and 75% rumen liquid provided the highest biomethane production, reaching 453.1 Nml/gSV, an increase of approximately 4 times in relation to the positive control. On the other hand, the mixture of 25% biofertilizer and 75% digestate resulted in a significantly lower yield of 256.7 Nml/gSV, about 2.5 times the control. In addition, based on the estimated amount of VWF of CEASA-PE, a potential for generating electricity from biomethane of 124 MWh/month \(\:{\eta\:}_{elec}\) was calculated, evidencing the energy and economic feasibility of the application of this technology for the use of urban organic waste. Anaerobic digestion Cattle rumen content wastewater biosolids biofertilizer fruit and vegetable waste mix design. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 11 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 04 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 10 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 29 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 28 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7235898","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":514893418,"identity":"625f3a2f-9832-4f89-933d-8fd0c35978d7","order_by":0,"name":"Daniela dos Santos Santana","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"UFPE","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniela","middleName":"dos Santos","lastName":"Santana","suffix":""},{"id":514893419,"identity":"2548e6b0-e4e4-49a0-b6a7-07e9e7381239","order_by":1,"name":"Jonathan da Cunha Teixeira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Federal University of Alagoas","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jonathan","middleName":"da Cunha","lastName":"Teixeira","suffix":""},{"id":514893420,"identity":"a8c56273-6fb9-4ed2-99c9-4d16a2d3bcc7","order_by":2,"name":"Maria Odete Holanda Mariano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Federal University of Pernambuco","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"Odete Holanda","lastName":"Mariano","suffix":""},{"id":514893422,"identity":"1d05b7e7-b86b-48a3-8a51-239e31b42795","order_by":3,"name":"José Fernando Thomé Jucá","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UFPE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"José","middleName":"Fernando Thomé","lastName":"Jucá","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-28 16:23:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7235898/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7235898/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91405513,"identity":"57fed10b-edce-4da0-bbb7-bbd8056d9d01","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-16 07:47:14","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":702524,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptFINAL.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7235898/v1_covered_54f010c4-8b29-44a9-84b4-daadbd4f3351.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Improving biomethane production from co-digestion of fruit and vegetable waste through inoculum mixtures and recirculation of liquid biofertilizer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"waste-disposal-and-sustainable-energy","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"wdse","sideBox":"Learn more about [Waste Disposal \u0026 Sustainable Energy](https://www.springer.com/journal/42768)","snPcode":"42768","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/42768/3","title":"Waste Disposal \u0026 Sustainable Energy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Anaerobic digestion, Cattle rumen content, wastewater biosolids, biofertilizer, fruit and vegetable waste, mix design.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7235898/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7235898/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn Brazil, there are 41 food supply centers, and 72 warehouses distributed in 22 Federation Units, which generate about 42,000 tons of organic waste monthly, normally destined for landfills. This study investigated the energy use of these residues for different inocula and liquid biofertilizer to increase biomethane production in the anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable residues (VWF). The experiment used waste collected from the CEASA-PE supply center, which generates about 990 tons of organic waste per month. Different inoculum mixtures, composed of digestate, rumen liquid and anaerobic domestic sludge, were tested in combination with a liquid biofertilizer co-product. The application of the experimental design of mixtures based on the centroid simplex method and the response surface methodology, allowed us to systematically evaluate the interactions between the inocula and identify optimal proportions to produce biomethane. The results revealed that the combination of 25% biofertilizer and 75% rumen liquid provided the highest biomethane production, reaching 453.1 Nml/gSV, an increase of approximately 4 times in relation to the positive control. 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