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Effective recovery of poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) biopolymer from C upriavidus necator using a novel and environmentally friendly solvent system
Author(s) -
Fei Tao,
Cazeneuve Stacy,
Wen Zhiyou,
Wu Lei,
Wang Tong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1002/btpr.2247
Subject(s) - cupriavidus necator , biopolymer , polyhydroxybutyrate , solvent , acetone , chloroform , chemistry , solubility , extraction (chemistry) , hexane , poly 3 hydroxybutyrate , chemical engineering , polymer , chromatography , organic chemistry , polyhydroxyalkanoates , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , engineering , biology
This work demonstrates a significant advance in bioprocessing for a high‐melting lipid polymer. A novel and environmental friendly solvent mixture, acetone/ethanol/propylene carbonate (A/E/P, 1:1:1 v/v/v) was identified for extracting poly‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB), a high‐value biopolymer, from Cupriavidus necator. A set of solubility curves of PHB in various solvents was established. PHB recovery of 85% and purity of 92% were obtained from defatted dry biomass (DDB) using A/E/P. This solvent mixture is compatible with water, and from non‐defatted wet biomass, PHB recovery of 83% and purity of 90% were achieved. Water and hexane were evaluated as anti‐solvents to assist PHB precipitation, and hexane improved recovery of PHB from biomass to 92% and the purity to 93%. A scale‐up extraction and separation reactor was designed, built and successfully tested. Properties of PHB recovered were not significantly affected by the extraction solvent and conditions, as shown by average molecular weight (1.4 × 10 6 ) and melting point (175.2°C) not being different from PHB extracted using chloroform. Therefore, this biorenewable solvent system was effective and versatile for extracting PHB biopolymers. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:678–685, 2016