Effect of acidogenesis products on the acetogenic and methanogenic step of anaerobic digestion

During acetogenic step of anaerobic digestion, the products of the acidogenesis, are oxidized producing the substrates for methanogenesis: hydrogen, carbon dioxide and acetate. Acetogenesis and methanogenesis are highly interconnected processes due to the syntrophic associations between acetogenic bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, allowing the whole process to become thermodynamically favourable. The aim of the present study is to determine the influence of the dominant products of the acidogenesis on the metabolic pathways of methane formation.