Recuperação de Polihidroxibutirato (P(3HB)) produzido por Bacillus megaterium ATCC 14581 via extração química e por fluido supercrítico

Abstract

More than 250 million tons per year of petroleumYbased plastics are currently produced in the world. The inadequate handling and disposal, as well as the current global crisis fueled by the exacerbated demand for these products, have made the unrestrained consumption of plastic a target of international debates, triggering numerous researches that seek to find alternative products that correspond to the attributes of plastic, but that are less aggressive to the environment. In this sense, biopolymers have received great attention due to the fact that they are produced from renewable raw materials, which is not the case with the oil source, causing it to become scarce and progressively expensive. Thus, in this work, chemical and supercritical fluid extraction using CO2 and co-solvents (ethanol, propanol and isopropanol) of polyhydroxybutrate (P(3HB)) produced by Bacillus megaterium ATCC - 14581 in a simple batch bioreactor using agro-industrial substrates (rice parboiling water, effluent from from the candy industry and micronutrient solution) was carried out. Chemical extraction showed the best response, an average recovery rate of 81.57%, followed by extraction by supercritical fluid using CO2 and propanol as a co-solvent resulted in an average recovery of 75.18%. Extraction by supercritical fluid has advantages, mainly because it is considered a clean technology that does not generate residues and uses a reduced amount of solvent when compared to the conventional method.