Exploring the Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Bioplastic for a Green Tomorrow

Fareeha Rauf; Asad Ur Rehman; Syed Sib Tul Hassan Shah; Areej Atta; Sikander Ali

Author(s)

Fareeha Rauf Dr. Ikram-Ul-Haq Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University Lahore,Lahore 54000,Pakistan

Asad Ur Rehman Dr. Ikram-Ul-Haq Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University Lahore,Lahore 54000,Pakistan

Syed Sib Tul Hassan Shah Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Plant Secondary Metabolism and Regulation, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, P. R. China

Areej Atta Dr. Ikram-Ul-Haq Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University Lahore,Lahore 54000,Pakistan

Sikander Ali Dr. Ikram-Ul-Haq Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University Lahore,Lahore 54000,Pakistan

Abstract

Conventional plastics, though a necessity in modern society, come with significant disadvantages due to the non-biodegradability, health risks, resource depletion, limited recycling and limited thermal resistance, ultimately effecting a wide range of life forms on earth. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a family of polyesters that serve as an efficient alternative for conventional plastics. PHAs are hydroxy fatty acids polyesters, water insoluble, storage granules produced intra-cellular by a variety of bacteria under stress. They offer several advantages including biodegradability and biocompatibility, non-toxic nature and versatile properties. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) exhibit diverse properties that make them highly valuable across various industries, including material packaging, biofuel production, fine chemical synthesis, agriculture, and animal feed. In the medical field, PHAs hold significant potential in applications such as neuronal regeneration, bioimplant patches, drug delivery systems, and cardiovascular therapies. Currently, PHAs are produced industrially via fermentation, but scalability remains constrained by high production costs. But recent advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering have provided a new potential to increase production efficiency. Mixed microbial culture (MMC) also reduces the cost by utilizing wide range of waste without the need of strict sterilization condition. Overall, PHAs are a big step towards sustainable materials that can reduce the detrimental effects of conventional plastic waste.

Publication Details

Page(s) 45-68

DOI DOI not available

Published Journal: The Sciencetech, Volume: 6, Issue: 2, Year: 2025

Request the full text from PASTIC

Keywords

Biodegradable, food packaging, Mixed Microbial Culture, polyhydroxyalkanoates, Drug delivery, Biocompatible, biopolymer

References

American Lung Association. ,Zuber M.,Zia K. M.,Noreen A.,Anjum M. N.,Tabasum S. .2016 .Microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and its copolymers: A review of recent advancements. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 89 : 161-174.

Ansari S.,Sami N.,Yasin D.,Ahmad N.,Fatma T. .2021 .Biomedical applications of environmental friendly polyhydroxyalkanoates. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 183 : 549-563.

Biazar E.,Heidari Keshel S. .2013 .A nanofibrous PHBV tube with Schwann cell as artificial nerve graft contributing to Rat sciatic nerve regeneration across a 30-mm defect bridge. Cell Communication \& Adhesion, 20(1-2) : 41-49.

Chen G. Q.,Jiang X. R. .2018 .Next generation industrial biotechnology based on extremophilic bacteria. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 50 : 94-100.

Choi S. Y.,Rhie M. N.,Kim H. T.,Joo J. C.,Cho I. J.,Son J.,Jo S. Y.,Sohn Y. J.,Baritugo K. A.,Pyo J.,Lee Y.,Lee S. Y.,Park S. J. .2020 .Metabolic engineering for the synthesis of polyesters: A 100-year journey from polyhydroxyalkanoates to non-natural microbial polyesters. Metabolic Engineering, 58 : 47-81.

Chow J.,Perez-Garcia P.,Dierkes R.,Streit W. R. .2023 .Microbial enzymes will offer limited solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis. Microbial Biotechnology, 16(2) : 195-217.

Dalton B.,Bhagabati P.,De Micco J.,Padamati R. B.,O'Connor K. .2022 .A Review on Biological Synthesis of the Biodegradable Polymers Polyhydroxyalkanoates and the Development of Multiple Applications. , 12(3) : .

Gao Q.,Yang H.,Wang C.,Xie X.,Liu K.,Lin Y.,Zhu S.,Neureiter M.,Lin M.,Ye Y.,Tan J.,D. J. .2022 .Advances and trends in microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates and their building blocks. July, 1 : 10.

Geyer R.,Jambeck J. R.,Law K. L. .2017 .Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made - Supplementary Information. Science Advances, 3(7) : 19-24.

Grigore M. E.,Grigorescu R. M.,Iancu L.,Ion R. M.,Zaharia C.,Andrei E. R. .2019 .Methods of synthesis, properties and biomedical applications of polyhydroxyalkanoates: a review. In Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 30 : 695-712.

Haddadi M. H.,Asadolahi R.,Negahdari B. .2019 .The bioextraction of bioplastics with focus on polyhydroxybutyrate: a review. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 16(7) : 3935-3948.

Koller M. .2017 .Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolyesters by extremophiles. MOJ Polymer Science, 1(2) : 1-19.

Koller M. .2020 .Advances in Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Production. , 2(3) : 1-8.

Kontárová S.,Škarpa P.,Kriška T.,Gregušková Z.,Figalla S.,Jašek V.,Sedlmajer M.,P. M. .2022 .Slow-release nitrogen fertilizers with biodegradable poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) coating: Their effect on the growth of maize and the dynamics of N release in soil. Polymers, 14(20) : 4323.

Kumar M.,Rathour R.,Singh R.,Sun Y.,Pandey A.,Gnansounou E.,Andrew Lin K. Y.,Tsang D. C. W.,Thakur I. S. .2020 .Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates: Opportunities, challenges, and prospects. Journal of Cleaner Production, 263 : 121500.

Lee J.,Park H. J.,Lee M.,Min J. S.,K. J. S. .2021 .Recent progress and challenges in microbial polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production from CO2 as a sustainable feedstock: A state-of-theart review. In Bioresource Technology, 339 : .

Lemoigne M. .1926 .Products of dehydration and of polymerization of $β$-hydroxybutyric acid. Bull Soc Chem Biol, 8 : 770-782.

Leong Y. K.,Show P. L.,Ooi C. W.,Ling T. C.,Lan J. C. W. .2014 .Current trends in polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) biosynthesis: Insights from the recombinant Escherichia coli. Journal of Biotechnology, 180 : 52-65.

Li Y.,Tao L.,Wang Q.,Wang F.,Li G.,Song M.,Effects Toxic .2023 .Potential Health Impact of Microplastics: A Review of Environmental Distribution, Human Exposure, and. Environment \& Health, 1(4) : 249-257.

Luo Z.,Wu Y. L.,Li Z.,Loh X. J. .2019 .Recent Progress in Polyhydroxyalkanoates-Based Copolymers for Biomedical Applications. Biotechnology Journal, 14(12) : 1-16.

Marciniak P.,Możejko-Ciesielska J. .2021 .What is new in the field of industrial wastes conversion into polyhydroxyalkanoates by bacteria? In Polymers. MDPI AG., 13 : .

Martin D. P.,Williams S. F. .2003 .Medical applications of poly-4- hydroxybutyrate: a strong flexible absorbable biomaterial. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 16(2) : 97-105.

Melchor-Martínez E. M.,Macías-Garbett R.,Alvarado-Ramírez L.,Araújo R. G.,Sosa-Hernández J. E.,Ramírez-Gamboa D.,Parra-Arroyo L.,Alvarez A. G.,Monteverde R. P. B.,Cazares K. A. S.,Reyes-Mayer A.,Lino M. Y.,Iqbal H. M. N.,ParraSaldívar R. .2022 .Towards a Circular Economy of Plastics: An Evaluation of the Systematic Transition to a New Generation of Bioplastics. , 14(6) : 1-32.

Moore C. J. .2008 .Synthetic polymers in the marine environment: A rapidly increasing, long-term threat. Environmental Research, 108(2) : 131-139.

Mukherjee A.,Koller M. .2023 .Microbial PolyHydroxyAlkanoate (PHA) Biopolymers-Intrinsically Natural. , 10(7) : 1-16.

Muneer F.,Rasul I.,Azeem F.,Siddique M. H.,Zubair M.,Nadeem H. .2020 .Microbial Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs): Efficient Replacement of Synthetic Polymers. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 28(9) : 2301-2323.

Pandey A.,Adama N.,Adjallé K.,Blais J.-F. .2022 .Sustainable applications of polyhydroxyalkanoates in various fields: A critical review. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 221 : 1184-1201.

Pouton C. W. .2001 .Polymeric materials for advanced drug delivery: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 53 : 1-3.

Rai R.,Keshavarz T.,Roether J. A.,Boccaccini A. R.,Roy I. .2011 .Medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates, promising new biomedical materials for the future. , 72(3) : 29-47.

Raza Z. A.,Abid S.,Banat I. M. .2018 .Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Characteristics, production, recent developments and applications. In International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 126 : 45-56.

Reddy C. S. K.,Ghai R.,Kalia V. .2003 .Polyhydroxyalkanoates: an overview. Bioresource Technology, 87(2) : 137-146.

Sabapathy P. C.,Devaraj S.,Meixner K.,Anburajan P.,Kathirvel P.,Ravikumar Y.,Zabed H. M.,Qi X. .2020 .Recent developments in Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production - A review. In Bioresource Technology, 306 : .

Sehgal R.,Gupta R. .2020 .Polyhydroxyalkanoate and its efficient production: an eco-friendly approach towards development. 3 Biotech, 10(12) : 549.

Sheldon R. A.,Norton M. .2020 .Green chemistry and the plastic pollution challenge: Towards a circular economy. Green Chemistry, 22(19) : 6310-6322.

Souza F. M.,De F. M.,Gupta R. K.,Challenges. R. K. .2024 .Bacteria for Bioplastics: Progress, Applications, and. , : .

Vicente D.,Proença D. N.,Morais P. V. .2023 .The Role of Bacterial Polyhydroalkanoate (PHA) in a Sustainable Future: A Review on the Biological Diversity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4) : .

Yean O. S.,Yee C. J.,Kumar S. .2017 .Degradation of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA): a review. Журнал Сибирского Федерального Университета. Биология, 10(2) : 211-225.

Zhang X.,Lin Y.,Wu Q.,Wang Y.,Chen G. Q. .2020 .Synthetic Biology and Genome-Editing Tools for Improving PHA Metabolic Engineering. , 38(7) : 689-700.