Moreover, a distinct
influence of the initial water content could be observed. While
the application of T. viride during aerobic pre-treatment only
caused a marginal increase of 30% in cumulative methane generation
during anaerobic treatment in the samples with a moisture
content of merely 50%, the methane yields significantly increased
with increasing moisture level, resulting in a 50% yield improvement
in the samples with a moisture content of 70% and T. viride
pre-treatment compared to the yield noted in the corresponding
controls (Fig. 3C).