The efficacy of the Hybrid Up flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor in treating fruit waste has been discussed in this study. HUASB reactor is a combination of a UASB unit at the lower part and an anaerobic fixed film at the upper end.  The reactor with a total volume of 10 L and plast ic cut rings as packing media was operated at varying Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) for a period of 110 days. The seeding of the reactor was done with effective microorganisms. The loading rates on the reactor were increased in steps for three different Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) to assess the maximum loading capacity of the reactor and to study the performance of the reactor at different loading rates and HRT. For increase in loading rates each and every time for various HRT, very short duration of 3 to 5 days, was required for achieving the steady state at elevated loading up to about 33.72  kg COD/m.d. The time required to achieve steady state due to increase in loading by increasing COD concentration was lesser than a week under all loading rates. The COD concentrations mainly used for these laboratory experiments were between 1050 mg/L and 8430 mg/L and performance of the reactor up to 92 % of COD removal efficiency was evaluated.  The sludge age required to get good COD reduction (around 92%) was observed to be more than 30days i.e. Startup period-exactly 30 days. After 30 days of startup, the reactor produced appreciable decrease in COD of wastewater and removed solids efficiently. Maximum COD removal efficiency of 92.97 % was achieved for HRT 6 hrs. The ideal OLR for the reactor in producing biogas was 24.20 kg COD/m.d and for COD removal efficiency it was 20.84 kg COD/m .d. Biogas production of 720 mL/d was observed at the time of operational period. Henceforth, HUASB reactor with effective microorganisms as the seed was observed to perform well in treating fruit waste and helped in quick startup time for the reactor. The findings of the study open up newer possibilities of design low cost and compact onsite treatment systems with very short retention periods. HUASB reactor appears to be a promising alternative for the treatment of fruit waste in developing countries like India.