Extraction of polyhydroxyalkanoates from mixed microbial cultures: Impact on polymer quality and recovery

open7noPolyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) can be extracted from mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) by means of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) or combination of DMC and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). The protocol based on DMC, a green solvent never used before for the extraction of PHAs from MMC, allows an overall polymer recovery of 63%; also the purity and the molecular weight of the recovered polymers are good (98% and 1.2 MDa, respectively). The use of NaClO pretreatment before DMC extraction increases the overall PHA recovery (82%) but lowers the mean molecular weight to 0.6–0.2 MDa. A double extraction with DMC results to be the method of choice for the recovery of high quality PHAs from attractive but challenging MMCs.This work was carried out by CIRI EA and CIRI MAM with the cooperation of the Emilia-Romagna High Technology Network within the POR FESR 2007-2013 and CIPE funding. We also acknowledge Progetto Bandiera “la Fabbrica del Futuro” 2014 (Innovative and sustainable production for biopolymers-PROBIOPOL) for funding. We thank Dott. Lorenzo Favaro, University of Padova (IT) for C. necator biomass supply.partially_openembargoed_20170319Samorì, Chiara; Abbondanzi, Federica; Galletti, Paola; Giorgini, Loris; Mazzocchetti, Laura; Torri, Cristian; Tagliavini, EmilioSamorì, Chiara; Abbondanzi, Federica; Galletti, Paola; Giorgini, Loris; Mazzocchetti, Laura; Torri, Cristian; Tagliavini, Emili