BMP testingFruit, vegetables and their residues

Pineapple fruit and leaves — BMP: 2 studies, weighted mean 294 m³ CH₄/t VS

Pineapple as a substrate comprises fruit and leafy shoots from plantations; records from different studies describe a material with high moisture content and an acidic pH.

CH₄ ≈ 52 % (estimate)

Published 1 October 2025Updated 29 October 20263 min readFeedstockData Editorial Team

Photo Daralnoble / Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, source file; changes: cropping

Weighted mean: 294m³ CH₄/t VS
Range: 232–355m³ CH₄/t VS
Records: 2studies
Publications: 2sources
Temperatures: 35 °Cof the test

Methane in biogas

≈51–54% CH₄

Medium methane content · ≈ 5.2 kWh/m³ of biogas

estimate from the substrate type The collected studies contain no measurement. The interval follows from the approximate composition (carbohydrate-dominated (no protein or fat characteristics)) and the yields of compound groups according to FNR.

How we calculate it and what the zones mean

Rating for biogas plants

not rated — editorial rating for biogas plants

Not rated: no dry matter or volatile solids in the data. We calculate the rating when the dry matter and volatile solids of the material are known.

Editorial rating per the methodology

Add to the co-digestion calculator CSV data

BMP curves from 2 studies

Weighted mean Individual records

Dashed lines are a model curve (first-order kinetics, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt)); the end point comes from the publication. All curves are model curves.

Cumulative methane production over the test [m³ CH₄/t VS]. The thick line is the weighted mean of all records (294); dots mark the end values given in the publications. Point at the chart to read values; click a legend item to hide or show a record.

Records and sources

Download CSV

Source	BMP m³ CH₄/t VS	Temperature	Sample	Curve
Gunaseelan (2004) DOI	355	35 °C · mesophilic	pine apple leafy shoot	end point (model curve)
Kouas et al. (2017) DOI	232	35 °C · mesophilic	pineapple	end point (model curve)
Weighted mean	294	arithmetic mean 294, SD 87

Typical composition

Volatile solids (VS): 94.6 % DM (range 94.6–94.6)

Median and range of the determinations reported in the publications behind this substrate's BMP records (read from: MY-D); dry matter: 0 determinations, volatile solids: 1 determination. No DM in the sources – the calculator has to ask for a value.

Sources: Gunaseelan (2004).

The composition of the raw material varies between batches — for plant calculations use an analysis of your own sample. The calculator inserts typical values automatically.

Process properties

Low confidence: the description is based on general characteristics of the substrate group, not on studies of this material. Treat it as a hint to be verified.

No published process studies

The literature we use does not describe the advantages or drawbacks of digesting this substrate beyond the BMP test results. Below are process characteristics assigned on the basis of the type of material — an editorial classification, not a study result.

easily degradable: sugars, starch, glycerol → fast hydrolysis and acidification (VFA), needs buffering
acidic: low pH of the substrate (silages, stillage, whey, fruit)
dilutes the feed (low DM): low dry matter, dilutes the feed
seasonal: seasonal availability — requires storage
poor in trace elements: poor in trace elements — mono-digestion requires supplementation
carbon-rich: high C/N → nitrogen deficiency; combine well with nitrogen-rich substrates
low in nitrogen: high C/N → nitrogen deficiency; combine well with nitrogen-rich substrates

Co-digestion — what to combine it with, what to watch out for

combines well
substrates: nitrogen-rich — e.g. Pig slurry, Poultry manure, Waste activated sludge (secondary sludge), Chlorella vulgaris, Nannochloropsis salina
A nitrogen-rich co-substrate balances the low C/N of fruit and vegetable waste (Bouallagui et al. 2009).^[1]
combines well
substrates: high alkalinity (buffer) — e.g. Cattle manure, Pig slurry, Cattle slurry, Duck slurry, Rumen and digestive tract content
Co-digestion of easily degradable substrates with dairy slurry increased the methane yield relative to slurry alone.^[2]

Dosing

No source limits on the dose for this substrate.

Introduce gradually, starting with a small dose and monitoring the process (e.g. FOS/TAC, pH, gas composition).

Sources of the process data

The co-digestion calculator will assess a specific mixture containing this substrate.

What it is and where it comes from

Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant grown mainly on plantations in Asia, the Americas and Africa. The dataset contains two materials: fruit and leafy shoots from plantations. The raw material is not grown in Poland; waste arises in the processing of imported fruit (juices, snacks) or in trade.

Properties relevant to digestion

Pineapple flesh contains a lot of simple sugars and water, so it degrades quickly. However, the low pH of the fruit can lead to acidification of the digester at large, sudden doses. The leaves contain cellulose fibres and lignin, and are stiffer and slower to degrade. The peel and crown of the fruit are more woody than the flesh.

How to read the spread of results

The records describe different parts of the plant, so the difference between them is understandable and does not indicate measurement uncertainty. In addition, they come from several different studies. The result is affected by the variety, ripeness, the share of peel and crown, size reduction, moisture content and the inoculum. Results for processing waste will differ from values for whole fruit.

In biogas plant practice

Pineapples in a biogas plant are mainly a topic for producing countries. In Poland they may appear as a component of waste from processing or trade, usually mixed with other fruit waste. Gradual dosing and monitoring of pH and volatile fatty acids are recommended in order to avoid acidification. Leaves and crowns require size reduction, and a raw material with high moisture content is best mixed with drier material.

Because the records come from only a few studies, it is best to treat the pineapple result as a reference point for fruit waste with high moisture content, not as a material constant. For an actual stream of processing waste, it is worth checking the composition (the share of flesh, peel and leaves), because the proportions of these fractions change the result, as do possible preservatives or sugar from syrups.

Methodology in brief

BMP is the amount of methane obtained from volatile solids (VS) in a batch test, given in m³ CH₄ per tonne of VS (numerically the same as NmL CH₄/g VS in the publications) and converted to normal conditions (0 °C, 101.325 kPa). The weighted mean gives each publication a total weight of 1, split equally between its results for the substrate — a paper testing twenty varieties does not outweigh a paper with a single sample. In inter-laboratory programmes the unit is the laboratory (total weight 1), and within it the weight of a test grows with the number of bottles (replicates). Results after pretreatment (e.g. thermal, chemical, enzymatic) are shown separately and are not included in the mean.

Solid lines are curves measured in the tests. Where a publication gives only the final result, we draw a first-order kinetic model, B(t) = B₀·(1 − e^−kt): only the end point comes from the publication, and the shape of the curve serves purely as visualisation — do not read the production on a particular day from it. For this substrate k = 0.245 d⁻¹ was assumed (median of rate constants k reported in the sources and/or fitted to the mean measured curves).

The statistics describe the spread of published results — a descriptive compilation, not a meta-analysis or a guarantee of plant yield.

Full methodology and correction policy

Bibliography

All sources of the site: bibliography.