Fermentation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste under different pH values and composition of microbial communities

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) must be stored for hours or days before being fed to the anaerobic digestion reactors. This storage leads to spontaneous lactic acid fermentation, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ethanol are produced by naturally occurring microorganisms. This research deals with fermentation and hydrolysis by controlling the OFMSW storage (silage) conditions. Using only naturally occurring microorganisms as inoculum, OFMSW fermentation in a semi-continuous reactor at pH values of 4, 5, and 6 was performed. During 6 days, samples were collected and analyzed daily for VFAs, ethanol, and lactic acid. At pH 4, the main products were ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid; at pH 5, lactic acid predominated, decreasing after day 4; at pH 6, acetic acid formed rapidly and after day 1, the concentration remained constant. At pH 6, butyric acid reached the highest concentration of all VFAs. The microbial diversity increased with pH. Metataxonomic analysis supports the possibility that the fungus of the <i>Pichia</i> genus is responsible for ethanol production and that various bacteria are responsible for VFAs, lactic acid production, and acetogenesis. Acetogenesis was the main pathway for the decrease in lactic acid and ethanol over time.