TITLE:
Agro-Industrial Waste Materials as Substrates for the Production of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyric Acid)
AUTHORS:
Artun Sukan, Ipsita Roy, Tajalli Keshavarz
KEYWORDS:
Agro-Industrial Wastes, CCD, STR, Orangepeel, Optimisation, Poly(3-Hyrdroxybutyric Acid)
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology,
Vol.5 No.4,
October
28,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Accumulation of recalcitrant
plastics in the environment has become a world-wide problem in today’s societies.
Rapid depletion of natural resources for synthetic plastics along with environmental
concerns has directed research towards finding alternatives to petroleum-based polymers.
Poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid) P(3HB), as one of these alternatives, have attracted
much attention in recent years due to their varied mechanical properties, biocompatibility
and biodegradability. The aim of this study was to identify an agro-industrial waste
resource economically suitable for large-scale production of P(3HB), to optimize
the production using Response Surface Methodology in small-scale and subsequently,
to test the production in a continuously stirred tank reactor. Among a range of
agro-industrial waste, orange peel was selected as the most suitable for P(3HB)
production. P(3HB) concentration of 1.24 g P(3HB)/L culture broth with 41% P(3HB)/dcw
yield was obtained using orange peel as the sole carbon source in optimized medium
with a modified strain of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis OK2).