Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate biopolymer from vinasse using Ralstonia eutropha

Background Brazil is the world’s leading ethanol producer and exporter. Due to increasing fuel demands, ethanol production has escalated in recent years. Vinasse is generated as a byproduct of the ethanol industry and is mainly used as fertilizer. The excessive usage of vinasse in soil leads to groundwater contamination [1]. The objective of this project is to develop a fermentation process with the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) using vinasse as the main nutrient and carbon source. This process will enable the utilization of vinasse for production of biobased, biodegradable P(3HB) biopolymer. These biopolymers are intracellularly accumulated by R. eutropha as carbon and energy reserves. The potential applications of P (3HB) as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics are abundant. In this work, pure vinasse was successfully used as substrate for the production of P(3HB) with the achieved accumulation reaching 50% of cell mass as polymer.