This study investigated the feasibility of N recovery from swine excreta (SE) as value-added soluble proteins and amino acids using hydrothermal (HT) technology for improving dry anaerobic digestion (AD) performance. The effect of temperature on characteristics and transformation behaviors of N species in SE subjected to HT pretreatment at different temperatures (110-210 degrees C for holding 30 min) was investigated. After HT pretreatment at 150 degrees C, 58% of the total nitrogen (TN) content in SE became soluble, with 19.03%, 1.55% and 0.56% of TN being converted into soluble proteins, amino acids and urea, respectively. Temperatures higher than 170 degrees C favored the breakdown of these proteinaceous compounds, leading to accelerated formation of ammonia. After soluble proteins and amino acids being separated by water extraction, CH4 yield (322.13 cm(3) g(-1) of VSfed) from the solid residue pretreated at 150 degrees C was improved by 51% in comparison to that from raw excreta (213.70 cm(3) g(-1) of VSfed), achieving 3 days' shorter in effective CH4 production period. HT technology could be an effective pretreatment alternative for the recovery of soluble proteins and amino acids and subsequently enhanced dry AD of SE.