Strategy for economical and enhanced polyhydroxyalkanoate production from synergistic utilization of palm oil and derived wastewater by activated sludge

The potential of palm oil and derived wastewater pretreated by enzyme as co-substrates to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) rich in short and medium-chain-length monomers under two feeding strategies was evaluated batchwise through mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) in activated sludge. A terpolymer with the maximum PHA content of 30.5 wt%, volumetric yield of 0.372 g COD/g COD and composition of ca. 84.7 ∼ 97.4/0.5 ∼ 1.6/2.1 ∼ 13.7 (3-hydroxybutyrate/ 3-hydroxyvalerate/ 3-hydroxyoctanoate, %) was achieved as a result of co-substrate incorporation. From the perspective of economic benefits, PHA accumulated via adopting strategy of supplementing carbon source to the same initial concentration per cycle saved 42.7 % of carbon consumption, along with a reduction in culture time (72 h). The above discoveries signify that the combination of palm oil and derived wastewater plus MMCs provides an alternative to the plastics industries for a more sustainable and efficient utilization of biological resources and an economic PHA accumulation approach.