TY  - Journal Article
AU  - Haas, C.
AU  - Steinwandter, V.
AU  - Diaz De Apodaca, E.
AU  - Maestro Madurga, B.
AU  - Smerilli, M.
AU  - Dietrich, T.
AU  - Neureiter, M.
TI  - Production of PHB from Chicory Roots - Comparison of Three Cupriavidus necator Strains
PY  - 2015
PB  - CROATIAN SOC CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY, BERISLAVICEVA 6, PO BOX 123, HR-10000 ZAGREB, CROATIA
AB  - Chicory roots from hydroponic salad cultivation are an abundant food residue in Navarra (Spain) that are underutilized to date. Aiming at a holistic utilization of resources, we report here the first process using chicory root hydrolysate for the production of poly([R]-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). The polymer can be used for packaging material made for the locally produced vegetables. 

In the first step, we developed a pre-treatment process to obtain a hydrolysate, which contained 34 g L-1 sugars and 0.7 g L-1 total Kjeldahl nitrogen. This hydrolysate was used as fermentation substrate for three PHB-producing strains. Cupriavidus necator DSM 428 reached a dry biomass concentration of 11.3 g L-1 with a PHB content of 66 % in dry mass within 5 days. C. necator DSM 531 yielded 3.5 g L-1 dry biomass containing 46 % PHB within the same period. C. necator DSM 545 was superior over the other two in that 14.0 g L-1 of biomass containing 78 % PHB after only 3 days were obtained. These results show that even within the same species, the productivities on natural substrates are very different. The produced polymers were extracted using chloroform, and several thermo-physical parameters are in good accordance with published data. Overall, our holistic approach and the encouraging results prove that chicory roots are a viable fermentation substrate for PHB-production.
SN  - 1846-5153
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/11556/52
DX  - 10.15255/CABEQ.2014.2250
ER  -