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Recent Advances and Challenges towards Sustainable Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Production
Constantina Kourmentza1, Jersson Plácido2, Nikolaos Venetsaneas3,4
1UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. c.kourmentza@fct.unl.pt.
Abstract:
Sustainable biofuels, biomaterials, and fine chemicals production is a critical matter that research teams around the globe are focusing on nowadays. Polyhydroxyalkanoates represent one of the biomaterials of the future due to their physicochemical properties, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Designing efficient and economic bioprocesses, combined with the respective social and environmental benefits, has brought together scientists from different backgrounds highlighting the multidisciplinary character of such a venture. In the current review, challenges and opportunities regarding polyhydroxyalkanoate production are presented and discussed, covering key steps of their overall production process by applying pure and mixed culture biotechnology, from raw bioprocess development to downstream processing.
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