Food waste (FW) constitutes the largest portion of municipal solid waste.

In Europe, an
estimated 100 million tons of food are discarded annually (Pagliaccia et al., 2016), and in
China, approximately 600 million tons of FW are generated each year (Meng et al., 2015).
This trend is on the rise, with FW production projected to increase by 44% between 2005 and
2025 (Capson-Tojo et al., 2016). Unfortunately, FW is currently an environmental concern as
it is often inadequately separated from general municipal waste. In many countries, FW is
predominantly disposed of in landfills alongside regular solid waste, resulting in issues such
as foul odors, air pollution, and leaching, which impact public well-being (D'Imporzano et al.,
2008; Karmee, 2016).

Consequently, nations must identify and implement crucial FW management practices,

encompassing prevention, recycling, and disposal (Sealey and Smith, 2014). Owing to dietary
preferences, cultural practices, economic conditions, and climate, the composition of FW
varies, including rice, bread, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, and other key components.
According to existing literature (Wang et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2011), FW typically consists
of 18.1% to 26.6% of total solids (TS) and 17.1% to 25.6% of volatile solids (VS), indicating
that water constitutes approximately 70-80% of FW. Due to this high moisture content, FW is
highly biodegradable but challenging to incinerate. Landfilling, composting, animal feed
utilization, and anaerobic digestion are common methods for FW disposal. However,
landfilling FW has been largely prohibited in many countries due to land resource scarcity and
heightened environmental pollution risks. The utilization of FW as animal feed also presents
risks, particularly if used directly, due to the shorter food chain (Zhang et al., 2014).

As a result, alternative methods for FW disposal are required to address the waste crisis. The
last decade has witnessed significant progress in FW research. Numerous studies have
explored various aspects of FW research, such as composting, anaerobic digestion, and co-
digestion. Olguin et al. introduced an accelerated FW composting method in 1993, marking
the first recorded experiment in this area (Olguin et al., 1993). Kim et al. investigated the
feasibility of bio-hydrogen production through the anaerobic co-digestion of FW and sewage
sludge, which stands as one of the most influential co-digestion studies for hydrogen
production (Kim et al., 2004). Han et al. evaluated the performance of an innovative two-
stage process for converting FW into hydrogen and methane (Han and Shin, 2004). Chen et
al. examined the enhancement of biomethane yield by controlling the fermentation type of the
acidogenic phase in a two-phase anaerobic co-digestion process involving food waste and rice
straw, suggesting that controlling the fermentation type of the acidogenic phase can be an
effective approach for achieving higher biomethane production (Chen et al., 2015). Rafieenia
et al. reported on the impact of aerobic pre-treatment on hydrogen and methane production in
a two-stage anaerobic digestion process using food waste with different compositions,
suggesting that aerobic pre-treatment holds promise for improved substrate conversion
efficiencies and methane production, especially when dealing with substrates rich in proteins
(Rafieenia et al., 2017).

Notably, these studies have been published in various journals across diverse subject
categories and have been conducted by researchers from various countries around the world.
However, to date, there has been no systematic analysis of the scientific research in the field
of FW research.