title: Date seed characterisation, substrate extraction and process modelling for the production of polyhydroxybutyrate by Cupriavidus necator.
abstract: Poly-3-hydroxybutrate (PHB) is a biodegradable polymer synthesised via bacterial fermentation as a means of storing carbon and energy under unbalanced growth conditions. The production cost of petroleum-based plastics is currently lower than that for biopolymers, and the carbon source is the most significant contributor to biopolymer production cost. A feasibility study to assess the suitability of using a date seed derived media as an alternative for PHB production under various stress conditions was investigated. Results include fructose extraction from date seeds and a mass transfer model to describe the process, demonstrating that the high nutrient content of date seeds makes them a promising raw material for microbial growth and that a meaningful amount of PHB can be produced without supplementation. Maximum dry cell weight and PHB concentrations were 6.3g/l and 4.6g/l respectively, giving a PHB content of 73%, when an initial fructose concentration of 10.8g/l was used.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The Mill, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; Chemical Engineering Department, University of Baghdad, Iraq.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Yousuf
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The Mill, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Electronic address: james.winterburn@manchester.ac.uk.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Winterburn
mesh_terms: D020118:Cupriavidus necator / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D065749:Phoeniceae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006885:Hydroxybutyrates
keywords: Biopolymer; Cupriavidus necator; Date seeds; Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB); Process modelling