Carbohydrate food wastes were collected from a university cafeteria in two batches (10 am in the morning and 7 pm in the evening) and sorted out for ease of pre-treatment. The periods of collection were selected to approximately match the periods of either peak consumption or defecation. The food wastes were thoroughly homogenized using a blender (BLG-401-18N) to achieve minimal particulate size suitable for easy digestion. After this, they were seeded with the human excreta which have also undergone thorough mixing. The mixture was a combination of
12 kg of food wastes and 3 kg of human excreta serving as an easy source of microbes. This was further mixed with water in a 1:1 w/v to make approximately 30-l slurry. The feedstock was fed into the digester (the digester was not in operation before the fermentation experiment) and the fermentation process lasted for 60 days. Parameters monitored and or determined during the fermentation are: (a) daily recording of volume of gas produced, (b) the temperature of the digester content was taken twice daily, (c) the pH of the digester content was taken weekly, (d) weekly collection of samples for the isolation and assessment of the microbial population causing the bio-conversion at different stages, (e) analysis of the gas to separate it to its different components and (f) physico-chemical analysis of the digestate at the end of the experiment.