New Research Article by Hafner et al., 2023

Kinetic information extracted from biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests is often reported but its value is unclear. Inter-laboratory reproducibility provides a useful indication of its value. Here we extracted estimates of the first-order rate constant from 1259 methane production curves collected in a large inter-laboratory study on BMP in order to quantify reproducibility. Reproducibility in was poor; relative standard deviation was 50–140%. Substrate comparisons ( for one substrate compared to another) also had low reproducibility, regardless of low values from inferential statistical tests. The use of a shared inoculum did not improve reproducibility in . We conclude that estimates from BMP tests only partially reflect intrinsic substrate properties. Therefore, interpretation and application of batch kinetic results should be done cautiously.

Hafner et al., 2022