Production and characterization of PHA from an agricultural by-product using Bacillus thuringiensis CICIM (B2031)

Abstract

The widespread overuse of petroleum plastic has led to serious environmental challenges. This has necessitated the pursuit for greener alternatives that would reduce or eliminate mankind's unsustainable and toxic dependence on the recalcitrant petroleum plastic. Polyhydroxybutyrate is a potential substitute candidate for the production of biodegradable plastics. In this study, Bacillus thuringiensis CICIM (B2031) was utilised for the production of PHB using an agricultural by-product corn silage as a carbon source. Different substrate concentrations of corn silage were used for the production to yield a maximum polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) of 40.48% after 48h. The extracted polymer was characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector(GC-FID). This study revealed that corn silage can be utilized as a renewable carbon source for PHA production