The efficiency of ammonia removal from fresh source-segregated domestic food waste digestate using biogas as a stripping agent was studied in batch experiments at 35, 55 and 70 degrees C, at gas flow rates of 0.125 and 0.250 Lbiogas min(-1) L-digestate(-1) with and without pH adjustment. Higher temperatures and alkaline conditions were required for effective ammonia removal, and at 35 degrees C with or without pH adjustment or 55 degrees C with unadjusted pH there was little or no removal. Results were compared to those from earlier studies with digestate that had been stored prior to stripping and showed that ammonia removal from fresh digestate was more difficult, with time constants 1.6-5.7 times higher than those previously reported. This has implications for the design of large-scale systems where continuous stripping of fresh digestate is likely to be the normal operating mode. A mass balance approach showed that thermal-alkaline stripping improved hydrolysis. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.