Characterizing the variability of food waste quality: A need for efficient valorisation through anaerobic digestion

•A statistical analysis of food waste data from 70 scientific papers was performed.•High variability of food waste characteristics was stated out.•Geographical origin, collection source and season explain 24% of the variations.•FW generally show a high biodegradable potential with high VS, COD and BMP.•Some attention points for AD are: pH, TAN, carbohydrates and cellulose contents.