Upcycling agricultural waste to biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates by combined ambient alkaline pretreatment and bacterial fermentation

Medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs), polyesters produced by bacterial fermentation of sugars and/or lipids, are potential bioplastic alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics. Lignocellulose is an abundant renewable source for fermentation. However, chemical or enzymatic release the requires a pretreatment step dispel rigid structure lignocellulose and enhance sugar access. Most pretreatments involve high temperature pressure, which increases processing production costs discourages commercialization. Here we demonstrate chemical-biological pathway mcl-PHAs from rice straw hemp hurd. We combined ambient alkaline pretreatment, hydrolysis, The reduced particle size pretreated solids partially fractionated hemicellulose lignin; these effects increased cellulose accessibility enzymes enabled (78–83% glucose yield) at solid loading (9 wt%). Therefore, obtained 47 wt% 69 (with respect gram dry cell weight) hurd, respectively. These findings constitute energy-efficient process that can be extended other sources lignocellulose, such as woody biomass dedicated bioenergy crops. Moreover, provide revenue agricultural sector, mitigate global warming fossil fuel processing, potentially reduce plastic pollution.