Effects of organic composition on mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste

•Digestion performances and degradability parameters are compositions dependent.•Organic compositions showed no major variations in kinetics parameters.•No major variations in reduction of TS, VS and protein but for lipid.•Correlations among kinetics and digestion parameters were discussed.•Suggestions on practical application were proposed basing on research results. Anaerobic digestion of food waste (FW) has been widely investigated, however, little is known about the influence of organic composition on the FW digestion process. This study aims to identify the optimum composition ratios of carbohydrate (CA), protein (CP) and lipid (EE) for maintaining high methane yield and process stability. The results show that the CA–CP–EE ratio was significantly correlated with performance and degradability parameters. Controlling the CA–CP–EE ratio higher than 1.89 (CA higher than 8.3%, CP lower than 5.0%, and EE lower than 5.6%) could be an effective way to maintain stable digestion and achieve higher methane production (385–627mL/gVS) and shorter digestion retention (196–409h). The CA-CP-EE ratio could be used as an important indicator for digestion performance. To effectively evaluate organic reduction, the concentration and removal efficiency of organic compositions in both solid phases and total FW should be considered.