Inhibitory effects of fruit flavors on methane production during anaerobic digestion

In order to improve biogas production from fruit wastes, the inhibitory effects of fruit flavors on anaerobic digestion were investigated. Batch anaerobic digestion was performed for 30 days using synthetic medium and thermophilic sludge. Three groups of flavor compounds i.e. aldehydes (hexanal, nonanal, and E-2-hexenal), terpenes (car-3-ene, α-pinene, and myrcene), and alcohol (octanol) at concentration of 0.005%, 0.05%, and 0.5% were examined. All the flavor compounds showed inhibitory effect on methane production. The highest methane reduction was obtained at addition of 0.5% of flavor compounds. For terpenoids, the presence of 0.5% of car-3-ene, myrcene, and α-pinene reduced 95%, 75%, and 77% of methane production, respectively. For aldehydes, addition of 0.5% concentration resulted in more than 99% methane reduction for hexanal and E-2-hexenal, and 84% methane reduction for nonanal. For alcohol, the presence of 0.5% octanol decreased 99% methane production.