Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates from Sludge Palm Oil Using S12.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable plastics produced by bacteria, but their use in diverse applications is prohibited by high production costs. To reduce these costs, the conversion by strains of P HAs from crude s ludge p alm oil ( SPO) a s an inexpensive renewable raw material was tested. S12 was found to produce the highest yield (~41%) of elastomeric medium-chain-length (MCL)-PHAs from SPO. The MCL-PHA characteristics were analyzed by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. These findings may contribute to more widespread use of PHAs by reducing PHA production costs.