Polyhyrdoxybutyrate production by Bacillus marcorestinctum using a Cheaper substrate and its electrospinned blends with polymer

ABSTRACT Poly(hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB) and other biodegradable polyesters are promising candidates for the development of environment-friendly and completely biodegradable plastics. One of the major drawbacks in the production of PHB is production costs, since it requires large amount of carbon source. This calls for cheaper substrates that can be used as an alternative carbon source such as agro-industrial residues. In this study, cane molasses was used as an additional carbon source at 2% concentration along with glucose for large scale production of PHB. Ammonium nitrate was used as the nitrogen source and the C:N ratio was maintained at 1:15. The maximum production of PHB was obtained at 24hours of growth which was found to be 0.5g/L and had a dry cell weight of 3.7g/ L.The PHB produced was further analysed by GC-MS Analysis and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).The obtained PHB from scale-up studies were further electrospinned using different blends of polymers.