Methane production potential from anaerobic digestion of wolfberry residues

To resourcefully utilize wolfberry residues (WR), a mesophilic batch anaerobic digestion experiment was conducted, and methane production potential was assessed using response surface methodology (RSM). The results showed that the optimal process conditions for methane production from WR included an organic load (OL) of 14.76 g VS/L, an inoculum to substrate ratio (I/S) of 2.44, and an initial pH of 7.82, all of which were obtained via RSM. The measured cumulative methane yield value under these conditions was 430.03 mL/g VS, which was very close to the predicted value (425.54 mL/g VS), with a relative error of less than 5%. This result indicated that the response surface model was effective. It was also found that compared to other residual biomass types, WR had a strong potential for methane production and represents a promising feedstock for fermentation. This research not only highlights a new potential feedstock for biogas engineering, but advances anaerobic digestion applications for WR from theory to practice.