title: Biochemical methane potential (BMP) of artichoke waste: the inoculum effect.
abstract: The aim of this work was to investigate anaerobic digestibility of artichoke waste resulting from industrial transformation. A series of batch anaerobic digestion tests was performed in order to evaluate the biochemical methane potential of the matrix in respect of the process. A comparison of the different performances of the laboratory-scale reactors operating in mesophilic conditions and utilizing three different values of the inoculum/substrate ratio was carried out. The best performance was achieved with an inoculum/substrate ratio of 2. Artichoke-processing byproducts showed a classical organic waste decomposition behaviour: a fast start-up phase, an acclimation stage, and a final stabilization phase. Following this approach, artichoke waste reached chemical oxygen demand removal of about 90% in 40 days. The high methane yield (average 408.62 mL CH4 gvs (-1) voltatile solids), makes artichoke waste a good product to be utilized in anaerobic digestion plants for biogas production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials & Environment - Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serranti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonifazi
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D031943:Cynara scolymus / Q000737:chemistry*; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; artichoke; biogas; organic waste treatment