Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a favorable way to convert organic pollutants, such as food waste (FW), into clean energy through microbial action. This work adopted a side-stream thermophilic anaerobic digestion (STA) strategy to improve a digestive system's efficiency and stability. Results showed that the STA strategy brought higher methane production as well as higher system stability. It quickly adapted to thermal stimulation and increased the specific methane production from 359 mL CH₄/g·VS to 439 mL CH₄/g·VS, which was also higher than 317 mL CH₄/g·VS from single-stage thermophilic anaerobic digestion. Further exploration of the mechanism of STA using metagenomic and metaproteomic analysis revealed enhanced activity of key enzymes. The main metabolic pathway was up-regulated, while the dominant bacteria were concentrated, and the multifunctional Methanosarcina was enriched. These results indicate that STA optimized organic metabolism patterns, comprehensively promoted methane production pathways, and formed various energy conservation mechanisms. Further, the system's limited heating avoided adverse effects from thermal stimulation, and activated enzyme activity and heat shock proteins through circulating slurries, which improved the metabolic process, showing great application potential.

厌氧消化 (AD) 是通过微生物作用将食物垃圾 (FW) 等有机污染物转化为清洁能源的有利方式。这项工作采用侧流嗜热厌氧消化 (STA) 策略来提高消化系统的效率和稳定性。结果表明，STA 策略带来了更高的甲烷产量和更高的系统稳定性。它很快适应了热刺激，比甲烷产量从359 mL CH ₄ /g·VS提高到439 mL CH ₄ /g·VS，也高于317 mL CH ₄/g·VS 来自单级嗜热厌氧消化。使用宏基因组学和宏蛋白质组学分析进一步探索 STA 的机制揭示了关键酶的活性增强。主要代谢途径上调，优势菌集中，多功能甲烷八叠球菌富集。这些结果表明STA优化了有机代谢模式，全面促进了甲烷生产途径，并形成了多种能量守恒机制。此外，该系统的有限加热避免了热刺激的不利影响，并通过循环浆液激活酶活性和热休克蛋白，从而改善了代谢过程，显示出巨大的应用潜力。