Dark fermentative volatile fatty acids production from food waste: a review of the potential central role in waste biorefineries

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are high-value chemicals that are increasingly demanded worldwide. Biological production via food waste (FW) dark fermentation (DF) is a promising option to achieve the sustainability and environmental benefits typical of biobased chemicals and concurrently manage large amounts of residues. DF has a great potential to play a central role in waste biorefineries due to its ability to hydrolyse and convert complex organic substrates into VFAs that can be used as building blocks for bioproducts, chemicals, fuels. Several challenges must be faced for full-scale implementation, including process optimization to achieve high and stable yields, the development of efficient techniques for selective recovery, and the cost-effectiveness of the whole process. This review aims to critically discuss and statistically analyse the existing relationships between process performance and the main variables of concern. Moreover, opportunities, current challenges, and perspectives of a FW-based and fermentation-centred biorefinery layout are discussed.