title: Biotechnological conversion of spent coffee grounds into polyhydroxyalkanoates and carotenoids.
abstract: Coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages and has been growing steadily in commercial importance. Nowadays, coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world, after petroleum. Hence, coffee industry is responsible for the generation of large amounts of waste, especially spent coffee grounds (SCG). Various attempts to valorize this waste stream of coffee industry were made. This article summarizes our research and publications aiming at the conversion of SCG into valuable products - polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and carotenoids. At first, oil extracted from SCG (approx. 15 wt% oil in SCG) can be efficiently (YP/S=0.82 g/g) converted into PHA employing Cupriavidus necator H16. Further, the solid residues after oil extraction can be hydrolyzed (by the combination of chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis) yielding fermentable sugars, which can be further used as a substrate for the production of PHAs employing Bacillus megaterium (YP/S=0.04 g/g) or Burkholderia cepacia (YP/S=0.24 g/g). Alternatively, SCG hydrolysate can be used as a substrate for biotechnological production of carotenoids by carotenogenic yeast Sporobolomyces roseus. Solid residues after either oil extraction or hydrolysis can be used as fuel in industrial boilers to generate heat and energy. Therefore, entire biomass of SCG can be used for sustainable production of PHAs and/or carotenoids employing bio-refinery approach.
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: Stana.O@seznam.cz.
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Obruca
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benesova
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kucera
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Sinisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petrik
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marova
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003069:Coffee / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D059625:Liquid-Liquid Extraction / Q000379:methods; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D003069:Coffee; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D002338:Carotenoids