title: Large scale extraction of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) from Ralstonia eutropha H16 using sodium hypochlorite.
abstract: Isolation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from bacterial cell matter is a critical step in order to achieve a profitable production of the polymer. Therefore, an extraction method must lead to a high recovery of a pure product at low costs. This study presents a simplified method for large scale poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), poly(3HB), extraction using sodium hypochlorite. Poly(3HB) was extracted from cells of Ralstonia eutropha H16 at almost 96% purity. At different extraction volumes, a maximum recovery rate of 91.32% was obtained. At the largest extraction volume of 50 L, poly(3HB) with an average purity of 93.32% ± 4.62% was extracted with a maximum recovery of 87.03% of the initial poly(3HB) content. This process is easy to handle and requires less efforts than previously described processes.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 3, D-48149, Münster, Germany. steinbu@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: Mohamed H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Madkour
authors.forename: Mansour A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Ghamdi
authors.forename: Ibraheem I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Shabbaj
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinbüchel