Abstract: “Compared to other industrial sectors, a great amount of wastewater occurs in the food technologies, because of the high water content of the raw materials processed, the commonly used dehydration operations and, additionally, the high water demand of flushing and cleaning procedures. Wastewater originated from food operations contains a great amount of organic matter, and due to frequently cleaning and disinfecting procedures effluents can be characterized by a high content of surfactants and disinfecting agents, respectively. Dosed cations in wastewater purification technology are also contributed to form more resistant sludge flocks via the stronger polymeric network. Therefore disruption of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and sludge condition for enhanced biodegradation has been an important factor in the efficiency and economy of sludge handling technology. Microwave irradiation has been successfully adopted as pre-treatment method via the high energy dissipation of polar”

Keywords: sludge, biodegradability, solubility, anaerobic digestion