Performance of volatile fatty acids production from food waste at the presence of alkyl ethoxy polyglycosides and sodium dodecyl sulfate

In the current context of technological and industrial development, strategies for sustainable development and resource utilization have become increasingly important. FW anaerobic fermentation (Fermentation of Wastes) is a process that utilizes organic waste for biotransformation and is widely used for the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are a kind of high value-added product generated from anaerobic fermentation process, and has extensive applications in chemical synthesis and electricity generation. This study investigated the performance of VFAs production from food waste at the presence of alkyl ethoxy polyglycosides (AEG) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The highest yield of VFAs was obtained at 0.1 g AEG/g TS (14.53 g COD/L), which increased by 25.80% than the Blank. But inhibited phenomenon was observed at other reactors with relatively low yield and delayed fermentation time. The inhibition of lactate's production and bioconversion delayed the fermentation time, and SDS has changed the acidogenic fermentation type from lactate-butyrate fermentation to acetate fermentation. In addition, more organic matter dissolved in the fermentation liquor with the addition of AEG and SDS, but the hydrolysis and acidification of polysaccharide were inhibited to some extent. Microbial community analysis showed that the abundance of key bacteria Clostridium has significantly decreased from 82.71% (Blank) to 33.54% (AEG) and 23.72% (SDS), leading to low VFAs production performance.