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Potential of Oil Palm Trunk Sap as a Novel Inexpensive Renewable Carbon Feedstock for Polyhydroxyalkanoate Biosynthesis and as a Bacterial Growth Medium
Author(s) -
Lokesh Bhadravathi Eswara,
Hamid Zubaidah Aimi Abdul,
Arai Takamitsu,
Kosugi Akihiko,
Murata Yoshinori,
Hashim Rokiah,
Sulaiman Othman,
Mori Yutaka,
Sudesh Kumar
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.201000598
Subject(s) - polyhydroxyalkanoates , raw material , food science , sugar , pulp and paper industry , carbon fibers , chemistry , bacillus megaterium , carbon source , renewable energy , bacterial cellulose , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , bacteria , biochemistry , cellulose , materials science , organic chemistry , ecology , genetics , engineering , composite material , composite number
Utilization of cheap renewable carbon feedstock for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production not only brings down its production cost but also ensures sustainability. The scope of this study was to evaluate the potential of sap extracted from felled oil palm trunk (OPT) as a novel inexpensive renewable carbon source for PHA production. OPT sap was found to be nutritionally rich and contained various fermentable sugars (5.5% w/v) as its major constituent. Termite gut isolate, Bacillus megaterium MC1 grew profoundly in mineral medium with OPT sap as carbon source and a cell density of 10.9 g/L was attained after 16 h of cultivation in shake flask cultures. A maximum poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)] content (% cell dry weight; CDW) of 30 wt% and a P(3HB) concentration of 3.28 g/L was recorded. Additionally, OPT sap extracted from younger tree trunks with prolonged storage had higher sugar content (10.8% w/v) and, when used as a growth medium without the addition of any nutrients, supported bacterial growth comparable to commercially available media.