• Biochemical degradation mechanism of different food waste was proposed. • The physicochemical properties of different food waste were significantly different. • The change trend of hydrolase activity in different food waste was consistent. • Bacillus et al. were the dominant degraders in the food waste aerobic fermentation. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between food components and food waste aerobic fermentation efficiency. Different food wastes were designed to be reflective of different dietary regimes, including formulated (R1), high oil/fat and salt (R2), high oil/fat and sugar (R3), and vegetarian (R4) diets, after which the physicochemical properties, enzyme activity, and structural characteristics of food waste microbial communities were examined to explore the potential mechanisms of food waste degradation under different dietary regimes. The main results of this study demonstrated that the physicochemical properties and hydrolase activity of different food waste were significantly different. The species richness in R2 and R3 food waste was higher than that of R1 and R4, whereas the community diversity of R1 and R4 food waste was higher than that of R2 and R3. At the genus level, the dominant bacteria in the four food waste types were Bacillus , Thermoactinomyces , Paenibacillus , and Cohnella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]