Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15255/CABEQ.2025.2433
Non-sugar-based Bioprocess for P(3HB) Production: Combining Methanotrophs and Mealworms
M. Lackner
orcid.org/0000-0002-2673-7495
; Circe Biotechnologie GmbH, Kerpengasse 125, 1210 Vienna, Austria
I. Zainab-L.
orcid.org/0009-0006-0722-3647
; School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
K. Sudesh
; School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
Abstract
The bioeconomy today relies mostly on sugar and physicochemical extraction processes, which limit both cost reduction and scale-up potential, yet these two aspects are vital for the market success of circular bioeconomy products. Gas fermentation is a platform technology that utilizes all kinds of waste biomass streams through low-cost, clean, and well-defined gaseous substrates. It can be used to obtain bioplastics. In this work, methane (CH4) was subjected to methanotrophic conversion by Methylocystis sp. GB 25. The freeze-dried bacterial biomass containing 47 wt% P(3HB) – poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), was subsequently fed to mealworms. The cells were fully consumed, and the P(3HB) granules were recovered within 24 h. The final PHB purity obtained was 95 % through a simple purification step. This work demonstrated that a simple bioprocess for biopolymer extraction can be applied to small bacterial cells like methanotrophs, offering a viable alternative to classic downstream processing steps such as chlorinated solvent extraction. The methanotrophic PHB was found to exhibit high molecular weight, making it an interesting biobased, biodegradable polymer.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
sustainable feedstock; green downstream processing; extraction; bioplastics; biopolymers
Hrčak ID:
339363
URI
Publication date:
22.11.2025.
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