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  • Title: High cell density culture of Cupriavidus necator H16 and improved biological recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates using mealworms.
    Author: Zainab-L I, Sudesh K.
    Journal: J Biotechnol; 2019 Nov 10; 305():35-42. PubMed ID: 31493421.
    Abstract:
    The cost of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) can be reduced by improving their productivity and recovery. In this study, we attempted to obtain a high cell density culture from a 13 L bioreactor and subsequently improved the recently developed biological recovery process using mealworms to obtain the PHA granules. A cell dry weight of 161 g/L containing 68-70 wt% P(3HB) was obtained. The freeze-dried cells contained a significant amount of mineral salts from the culture medium which reduced the cells' palatability for the mealworms. A simple washing procedure with water was sufficient to remove the residual mineral salts and this improved the cells' consumption by up to 12.5% of the mealworms' body weight. As a result, one kilogram of mealworms consumed 125 g of the washed cells daily and 87.2 g of feacal pellets were recovered, which was almost twice the weight of the unwashed cells. In addition, it also improved the purity of the PHA in the faecal pellets to a value <90% upon washing with water to remove the water-soluble compounds. This study has demonstrated a significant improvement in the production and recovery of PHA. In addition, the resulting mealworms showed a significant increase in protein content up to 79% and a decrease in fat content down to 8.3% of its dry weight.
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