Comparative fertilizer properties of digestates from mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of dairy manure: focusing on plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and environmental risk

The fertilizer properties of anaerobic digestate depend on the feedstock and operating conditions of digestion. In this study, the comparative fertilizer properties of mesophilic and thermophilic digestates from dairy manure were evaluated for plant nutrient contents, and special attention was paid to plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). Two digestates contained similar plant nutrient contents, while the thermophilic digestate contained higher contents of NH₄⁺–N. The quantity of Bacillus and Pseudomonas in the mesophilic digestate was significantly higher than in the thermophilic digestate. Furthermore, Bacillus showed siderophore production and antifungal activity (43.5–75.3%), and Pseudomonas showed siderophore and phytohormone production (4.2–75.2 µg ml^?1). One phosphate solubilizing isolate was also detected in the mesophilic digestate. These results indicated that two digestates showed different fertilizer properties with respect to nutrient contents and PGPB, and digestates had the potential to increase the availability of phosphorus and iron in the soil, both to provide phytohormones to plant roots and protect plants from fungal phytopathogens. The contents of indicator bacteria and heavy metals were analyzed to determine their environmental risk, and the results showed a high reduction in indicator bacteria and lower levels of heavy metals than in other feedstocks.     

Heavy metal and nutrient changes during vermicomposting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues

A pilot-scale trial of four months was conducted to investigate the responses of heavy metal and nutrient to composting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues with and without earthworms. Results showed that earthworm activities accelerated organic matter mineralization (e.g. reduction in C/N ratio, increase in total concentrations of N, P, K) and humification (e.g. increase in humic acid concentration, humification ratio and humification index). Despite composting increased total heavy metal (i.e. As, Pb, Cu, Zn) concentrations irrespective of earthworm, the availability of heavy metals extracted by DTPA significantly (P < 0.05) decreased particularly in treatments with earthworms introduced. The shift from available to unavailable fractions of heavy metals was either due to earthworm bioaccumulation, as indicated by total heavy metal concentrations being higher in earthworm tissues, or due to the formation of stable metal-humus complexes as indicated by the promotion of humification. Our results suggest that vermicomposting process could magnify the nutrient quality but relieve the heavy metals risk of agricultural organic wastes.     

Fertilizer and sanitary quality of digestate biofertilizer from the co-digestion of food waste and human excreta

This research was aimed at assessing the fertilizer quality and public health implications of using digestate biofertilizer from the anaerobic digestion of food wastes and human excreta. Twelve (12) kg of food wastes and 3 kg of human excreta were mixed with water in a 1:1 w/v to make 30-l slurry that was fed into the anaerobic digester to ferment for 60 days at mesophilic temperature (22–31 °C). Though BOD, COD, organic carbon and ash content in the feedstock were reduced after anaerobic digestion by 50.0%, 10.6%, 74.3% and 1.5% respectively, nitrogen, pH and total solids however increased by 12.1%, 42.5% and 12.4% respectively. The C/N ratios of the feedstock and compost are 135:1 and 15.8:1. The residual total coliforms of 2.10 × 10⁸ CFU/100 ml in the digestate was above tolerable limits for direct application on farmlands. Microbial analysis of the digestate biofertilizer revealed the presence of Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Clostridium, Bacillus, Bacteroides, Penicillum, Salmollena, and Aspergillus. Klebsiella, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Penicillum and Aspergillus can boost the efficiency of the biofertilizer through nitrogen fixation and nutrient solubility in soils but Klebsiella again and Salmollena are potential health risks to end users. Further treatment of the digestate for more efficient destruction of pathogens is advised.     

Chemical and spectroscopic characterization of organic matter during the anaerobic digestion and successive composting of pig slurry

In this work, anaerobic digestion of pig slurry and successive composting of the digestate after centrifugation were studied by means of chemical analysis, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy as excitation–emission matrix (EEM). Chemical analysis highlighted the organic matter transformation occurring during the processes. A decrease of volatile solids and total organic carbon were observed in the digestate with respect to the fresh pig slurry as a consequence of the consumption of sugars, proteins, amino acids and fatty acids used by microorganisms as a C source. Water Extractable Organic Matter (WEOM) was obtained for all samples and fractionated into a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic fraction. The highest WEOM value was found in the pig slurry indicating a high content of labile organic C. The digestate centrifuged and the digestate composted showed lower hydrophilic and higher hydrophobic contents because of the decrease of labile C. Total phenolic content was lower in the digestate with respect to fresh pig slurry sample (36.7%) as a consequence of phenolic compounds degradation. The strong decrease of total reducing sugars in the digestate (76.6%) as compared to pig slurry confirmed that anaerobic process proceed mainly through consumption of sugars which represent a readily available energy source for microbial activity. FTIR spectra of pig slurry showed bands indicative of proteins and carbohydrates. A drop of aliphatic structures and a decrease of polysaccharides was observed after the anaerobic process along with the increase of the peak in the aromatic region. The composted substrate showed an increase of aromatic and a relative decrease of polysaccharides. EEM spectra provided tryptophan:fulvic-like fluorescence ratios which increased from fresh substrate to digestate because of the OM decompostion. Composted substrate presented the lowest ratio due to the humification process.     

Sludge earthworm composting technology by Eisenia fetida

Prior to vermicompost application to the soils, there is a need to determine the heavy metal concentrations in the final vermicomposts. Acute toxicity on Eisenia fetida for copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) were conducted by artificial soils tests. The dosage of interest is typically the median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) that will kill 50 % of the population of organisms within the test period. The dry artificial soil is pre-moistened 1 or 2 days before the test by adding deionized water to obtain approximately half of the required final water content of 40–60 % of the maximum water holding capacity. The 14-day LC₅₀ values (95 % confidence interval) for Cu and Cd were 530 (450–624) and 1118 (988–1265) mg kg^?1, respectively. The vermicomposting was designed to evaluate the effects of earthworm activity on heavy metals in sewage sludge. Compared with the sludge before vermicomposting by Eisenia fetida, the results are as follows: (1) water content, the pH value and organic matter content decreased, (2) total nitrogen content increased, total phosphorus content and total potassium content decreased, (3) available nitrogen concentration, available phosphorus content increased, and (4) the total content of five metals (Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb and Zn) decreased, and the bioaccumulation factor shows that vermicomposting can efficiently remove heavy metals. Therefore, it can be concluded that the soil use of sludge of the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Huaibei is feasible.     

Physicochemical and biochemical changes during composting of different mixing ratios of biogas sludge with palm oil mill wastes and biogas effluent

Prior to composting, the composition of palm oil mill wastes were analyzed. Palm empty fruit bunches (PEFB) contained the highest total organic carbon (52.83 % dry weight) while palm oil mill biogas sludge (POMS) and decanter cake (DC) contained higher total nitrogen (3.6 and 2.37 % dry weight, respectively) than the others. In addition, palm oil fuel ash (POFA) had a high amount of phosphorus and potassium (2.17 and 1.93 % dry weight, respectively). The effect of mixture ratio of POMS and other palm oil mill wastes for composting was studied using the mixed culture Super LDD1 as an inoculum. All compost piles turned dark brown and attained an ambient temperature after 40 days incubation. The pH values were stable in the range of 6.9–7.8 throughout the process whereas the moisture content tended to decrease till the end with the final value around 30 %. After 60 days incubation, the mixture ratio of POMS:PEFB:DC at 2:1:1 with the addition of biogas effluent gave the highest quality of the compost. Its nitrogen content was 31.75 % higher than the other treatments that may be a result of growth of ink cap mushroom (Coprinus sp.). This is the first report on the occurrence of this mushroom during composting. In addition, its nutrients (3.26 % N, 0.84 % P and 2.03 % K) were higher than the level of the Organic Fertilizer Standard. The mixed culture Super LDD1 produced the highest activity of CMCase (6.18 Unit/g) and xylanase (11.68 Unit/g) at 9 days fermentation. Therefore, this solid-state fermentation could be employed for production of compost as well as enzymes.     

Optimizing vermistabilization of waste activated sludge using vermicompost as bulking material

An integrated composting-vermicomposting system has been developed for stabilization of waste activated sludge (WAS) using matured vermicompost as bulking material and Eisenia fetida as earthworm species. Composting was considered as the main processing unit and vermicomposting as polishing unit. The integrated system was optimized by successive recycling and mixing of bulking material with WAS during composting and examining the effects of environmental condition (i.e. temperature: 10-30 °C and relative humidity: 50 and 90%) and stocking density (0-5 kg/m²) on vermicomposting. The composting stage resulted in sufficient enrichment of bulking material with organic matter after 20 cycles of recycling and mixing with WAS and produced materials acceptable for vermicomposting. Vermicomposting of composted material caused significant reduction in pH, volatile solids (VS), specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR), total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC), C/N ratio and pathogens and a substantial increase in electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP). The environmental conditions (i.e. temperature: 10-30 °C and relative humidity: 50 and 90%) and stocking density (0-5 kg/m²) have profound effects on vermicomposting. Temperature of 20 °C with high humidity is the best suited environmental condition for vermicomposting employing E. fetida. The favorable stocking density range for vermiculture is 0.5-2.0 kg/m² (optimum: 0.5 kg/m²) and for vermicomposting is 2.0-4.0 kg/m² (optimum: 3.0 kg/m²), respectively. The integrated composting-vermicomposting system potentially stabilizes and converts the hazardous WAS into quality organic manure for agronomic applications without any adverse effects.     

Anaerobic co-digestion of dairy cow manure and high concentrated food processing waste

Anaerobic co-digestion of dairy manure (DM) and concentrated food processing wastes (FPW) under thermophilic (55 °C) and mesophilic (35 °C) temperatures, and fertilizer value of the effluent were investigated in this study. Two types of influent feedstock were utilized: 100 % DM and a 7:3 mixture (wet weight basis) of DM and FPW. The contents of the FPW, as feedstock were 3:3:3:1 mixture of cheese whey, animal blood, used cooking oil and residue of fried potato. Four continuous digestion experiments were carried out in 10 L digesters. Co-digestion under thermophilic temperature increased methane production per digester volume. However, co-digestion at 35 °C was inhibited. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (N) recovered after digestion ranged from 73.1 to 91.9 %, while recoveries of ammonium nitrogen (NH₄-N) exceeded 100 %. The high recovery of NH₄-N was attributed to mineralization of influent organic N. The mixture of DM and FPW showed greater recoveries of NH₄-N after digestion compared to DM only, reflecting its greater organic N degradability. The ratios of extractable to total calcium, phosphorus and magnesium were slightly reduced after digestion. These results indicate that co-digestion of DM and FPW under thermophilic temperature enhances methane production and offers additional benefit of organic fertilizer creation.     

Development of composting process of oil palm industrial wastes by multi-enzymatic fungal system

There is an increased interest in composting as an effective means of handling large amounts of organic wastes generated by oil palm industries in Malaysia. However, very few studies have been conducted to develop an effective composting process using the multi-enzymatic system. This study demonstrates an effective composting process of EFB (empty fruit bunch) with POME (palm oil mill effluent), using the optimized process parameters and compatible multi-enzymatic fungal system. A higher decrease (3 %) of organic matter was achieved in the fungal treated system, almost double that of the control (without inoculum). The lowest C/N ratio and soluble protein content recorded were about 17 and 128.82 g/kg, respectively. The maximum germination index obtained was 116 % at day 50 of treatment, which is considered high compared to the control (uninoculated). Furthermore, the maximum activity of ligninase enzyme was found to be 25.95 U/g and the highest cellulase activity was recorded at 0.975 U/g.     

Treatment of Stormwater using Fibre Filter Media

In this study, a high-rate fibre filter was used as a pre-treatment to stormwater in conjunction with in-line flocculation. The effect of operating the fibre filter with different packing densities (105, 115 and 125 kg/m³) and filtration velocities (20, 40, 60 m/h) with and without in-line flocculation was investigated. In-line flocculation was provided using 5, 10 and 15 mg/L of ferric chloride (FeCl₃·6H₂O). The filter performance was studied in terms of pressure drop (ΔP), solids removal efficiency, heavy metals (total) removal efficiency and total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency. It is found that the use of in-line flocculation at a dose of 15 mg/L improved the performance of fibre filter as measured by turbidity removal (95%), total suspended solids reduction (98%), colour removal efficiency (99%), TOC removal (reduced by 30–40 %) and total coliform removal (93%). The modified fouling index reduced from 750–950 to 12 s/L² proving that fibre filter can be an excellent pre-treatment to membrane filtration that may be consider as post-treatment. The removal efficiency of heavy metal was variable as their concentration in raw water was small. Even though the concentration of some of these metals such as iron, aluminium, copper and zinc were reduced, others like nickel, chromium and cadmium showed lower removal rates.     

Residual organic fluorinated compounds from thermal treatment of PFOA,PFHxA and PFOS adsorbed onto granular activated carbon (GAC)

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) adsorbed onto granular activated carbon (GAC) were thermally treated in N₂ gas stream. The purpose was to assess the fate of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) during thermal regeneration of GAC, which had been used for water treatment. Mineralized F, residual PFASs including short-chained species, and volatile organic fluorine (VOF) were determined. In a temperature condition of 700 °C, VOF were 13.2, 4.8, and 5.9 % as for PFOA, PFHxA, and PFOS. However, the VOF decreased to 0.1 %, if the GAC and off-gas were kept at 1000 °C. No PFASs remained in GAC at 700–1000 °C; at the same time, short-chained PFASs were slightly detected in the aqueous trapping of off-gas at 800 and 900 °C conditions. The destruction of PFASs on GAC could be perfect if the temperature is higher than 700 °C; however, the process is competitive against volatile escape from GAC. Destruction in gaseous phase needs a temperature as high as 1000 °C. Destruction of PFASs on the surface of GAC, volatile escape from the site, and thermolysis in gas phase should be considered, as to thermal regeneration of GAC.     

Assessment of factors affecting household solid waste generation and its composition in Gulberg Town,Lahore, Pakistan

This paper analyzes and compares the findings of the characterization study of collected solid waste from households of three different socioeconomic groups in Lahore, Pakistan, over the four seasons, i.e. Spring (March–April, 2008), Summer (May–June, 2008), Monsoon (August–September, 2008) and Winter (December 2008 and January 2009). The generation rate of waste was 0.96 kg/cap/day for high-income, 0.73 kg/cap/day for middle and 0.67 kg/cap/day for low-income group. The average of total household solid waste (HSW) generation is 0.79 kg/cap/day (including 0.75 kg/cap/day for spring, 0.77 kg/cap/day for summer, 0.86 kg/cap/day for monsoon and 0.76 kg/cap/day. The breakdown for the major physical components of the waste shows that organic waste accounts for the largest proportion (67.46 %). The relations between waste generation rates by physical category and subcategory, in addition to factors such as socioeconomic groups (population density levels, household income and household size), seasonal variation, and daily variation (difference of HSW generation among days of a week) were also analyzed. Statistical analysis shows that there was no significant difference in overall waste generation among days of a week. A significant difference between the seasons for food waste, cardboard, PET, HDPE, other hazardous waste, battery cells, and dust and stone (p < 0.001) was found. The generation rates were found to be higher when compared to other developing countries.     

The impact of pretreatment and inoculum to substrate ratio on methane potential of organic wastes from various origins

Biochemical methane potentials (BMP) of two different substrates from macroalgae (MA) and market place wastes (MPW) were investigated using anaerobic granulated sludge from food industry with different ratios of substrate to inoculum (S/X). The substrates were used as MA only, MPW only, MA–MPW mixture, pretreated MA, and pretreated MA–MPW mixture. Research involved investigation of the effects of parameters such as temperature (35, 45, and 55 °C), substrate to inoculum ratio (S/X = 0.5, 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 as g VS_substrate/g VS_inoculum), and the type of pretreatment (by microwave, thermal, and ultrasonic) on BMP. BMP assays were performed for all substrates. The highest cumulative biogas production (and BMP) were obtained for MA only at an S/X ratio of 4.0 g VS/g VS as 357 L_biogas/kg VS (197 L CH₄/kg VS) and 33 L_biogas/kg VS (17 L CH₄/kg VS), respectively, at 35 and 55 °C. For pretreated substrates, the highest cumulative biogas production and BMP were observed as 287 L_biogas/kg VS and 146 L CH₄/kg VS using pretreated macroalgae at 35 °C. Results suggested that MA only and MA–MPW mixtures are suitable substrates for biogas production. It is also concluded that any type of pretreatment has adverse effects on biogas and methane productions.     

Optimization of mixing ratio of ammoniated rice straw and food waste co-digestion and impact of trace element supplementation on biogas production

The anaerobic co-digestion of biomass waste, a promising process of reusing resources, is capable of improving methane production. However, the characteristics and composition of fermenting raw material negatively influence the efficiency of methane production. Optimization experiments were systematically performed in this study through anaerobic co-digestion with urea-ammoniated rice straw (UARS) and food waste (FW) as co-substrates. Anaerobic co-digestion of UARS and FW in biogas production under mesophilic conditions (35 °C) was investigated in a 1 L enclosed triangular flask with a total organic load of 6 g volatile solids (VS)/L. The optimal mixing ratio of UARS to FW was close to 1:3, and the methane yield increasing by 8.83% compared with the sole substrate. Furthermore, based on the optimization ratio, supplementation of cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) on co-digestion were significantly superior to that of a single element. Additionally, kinetic analysis indicated that trace element remarkably facilitated the reaction rate of co-digestion. Noteworthy, the addition of Co, Ni, and the combination of Co and Ni achieved very significant (p < 0.01) improvement of 6.45, 8.36, and 13.65%. Meanwhile, Ni was substantially promoted the removal rate of VS, enhanced the operational stability of co-digestion and increased the methane content significantly.     

Investigation of Biosurfactant Activity and Asphaltene Biodegradation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus cereus</Emphasis>

In this research, a biosurfactant-producing bacterium with capability of asphaltene degradation was isolated from oil-contaminated soil samples, and identified as Bacillus cereus. This strain produced an effective biosurfactant in the presence of molasses and the surface tension was reduced to the level of 36.4 mN/m after 48 h under optimum conditions. The optimum values of carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C:N), pH, and temperature for biosurfactant production were determined as 30:1, 7.3 and 29 °C, respectively, using response surface methodology. The maximum emulsification activity in the culture broth was 53 % after 48 h using kerosene at 25 °C. The goodness of fit of four growth kinetic models including Tessier, Contois, Logistic and Westerhoff was compared for the bacterial growth and molasses utilization of B. cereus in 5-L batch bioreactor during 120 h. Conducted kinetic study showed that biosurfactant production had a good fit with the Contois growth kinetic model (R² = 0.962) and the maximum specific growth rate (µ _max ), saturation constant (K _s ) and the yield of biomass per substrate (Y _x/s ) were determined to be 0.145 h^?1, 1.83 g/L and 0.428 g/g, respectively. The asphaltene biodegradation in flask was evaluated by FTIR analysis and quantified by a spectrophotometer. This bacterium was able to degrade up to 40 % of asphaltene as a sole carbon and energy source after 60 days at 28 °C. The resulting surface tension of 30.2 mN/m with the critical micelle concentration of 23.4 mg/L indicated good efficiency of the biosurfactant.     

The mixing and segregation characteristics of rice straw in a cylindrical bubbling fluidized bed

In the present study, an experiment was performed to investigate the mixing and segregation characteristics of standard sand and rice straw particles in a cylindrical bubbling fluidized bed. The mass ratio (rice straw/standard sand = 0.5–1.25 %) of two particles and superficial gas velocity (0.13–0.18 m/s) were changed as experimental variables. The pressure drop curve and Kramer’s equation were used to determine the minimum fluidization velocity and mixing index, respectively. In all cases, the mixing index was the lowest at U/U _mf = 1.15. Based on the point of U/U _mf = 1.15, the segregation region and mixing region were observed. In the segregation region, mass ratio of 0.75 % showed the lowest mixing index. At the U/U _mf = 1.23 which was selected as the starting of fast pyrolysis considering residence time and the previous fast pyrolysis experiment, mass ratio of 1.25 % showed the highest mixing index which was 0.90.     

Heavy metals in source-separated compost and digestates

The production of compost and digestate from source-separated organic residues is well established in Europe. However, these products may be a source of pollutants when applied to soils. In order to assess this issue, composts, solid and liquid digestates from Switzerland were analyzed for heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) addressing factors which may influence the concentration levels: the treatment process, the composition, origin, particle size and impurity content of input materials, the season of input materials collection or the degree of organic matter degradation.Composts (n = 81) showed mean contents being at 60% or less of the legal threshold values. Solid digestates (n = 20) had 20–50% lower values for Cd, Co, Pb and Zn but similar values for Cr, Cu and Ni. Liquid digestates (n = 5) exhibited mean concentrations which were approximately twice the values measured in compost for most elements. Statistical analyses did not reveal clear relationships between influencing factors and heavy metal contents. This suggests that the contamination was rather driven by factors not addressed in the present study.According to mass balance calculations related to Switzerland, the annual loads to agricultural soils resulting from the application of compost and digestates ranged between 2% (Cd) and 22% (Pb) of total heavy metal loads. At regional scale, composts and digestates are therefore minor sources of pollution compared to manure (Co, Cu, Ni, Zn), mineral fertilizer (Cd, Cr) and aerial deposition (Pb). However, for individual fields, fertilization with compost or digestates results in higher heavy metal loads than application of equivalent nutrient inputs through manure or mineral fertilizer.     

An Original Halo-Alkaline Protease from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus halodurans</Emphasis> Strain US193: Biochemical Characterization and Potential Use as Bio-Additive in Detergents

Over a hundred of halophilic/halotolerant microorganisms were screened for alkaline protease production. The bacterium showing the highest enzyme production was characterized and identified as Bacillus halodurans US193 on the basis of 16S rRNA gene analysis. It was alkalophilic, thermophilic and halotolerant since it grew optimally at pH 9.7 and 50?°C with tolerance of up to 125 g NaCl l^?1. The alkaline protease was purified 4.9 times with about 40186.1 U/mg as specific activity. It exhibited optimal activity at pH 10, 70?°C and 0.25 M NaCl with perfect stability at wide ranges of pH (6–12), temperatures (30–60?°C) and NaCl concentrations (0–2 M). The serine alkaline protease maintained high stability in the presence of Cu²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺ and Ca²⁺ ions, various organic solvents [50% (v/v)] and ionic and non ionic detergent additives. In addition, it was more compatible with various commercialized detergents than other reported detergent proteases, and was very efficient in blood stain removal. These findings let B. halodurans US193 alkaline protease be an ideal candidate for many industrial processes at harsh conditions, especially as a bio-additive in detergent industry.     

Assessment of compost dosage in farmland through ecotoxicological tests

A research project was carried out to evaluate ecotoxicological effects of mature compost addition to agricultural soil, using a battery of ecotoxicological tests. The following species were selected: plant of Lepidium sativum, earthworm Eisenia foetida, aquatic crustacean Daphnia magna and bacteria Vibrio fischeri. The tests were classified as “direct tests” using solid compost samples and “indirect tests” using compost leaching test eluate. The direct bioassays were performed using compost added to artificial soil in concentrations ranging from 2.5 to 100 % (w/w); the indirect ones considered compost eluate, added to a standard solution in the same concentrations used in the direct tests. Both tests aimed at obtaining the ecotoxicological parameters (LC₅₀ and EC₅₀). These values were then utilized to implement the Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) analysis and extrapolate the Hazard Concentration (HC), a useful threshold to preserve the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems. Results indicated an increase in compost toxicity with greater compost concentrations; in particular, for direct tests compost dosage below 10 % showed low toxicity, while for indirect ones the toxicity was higher. Furthermore, SSD analysis showed a Hazardous Concentration (HC₅) for direct bioassays of 3.5 % and for indirect of 14 %.     

Biosynthesis and Characterization of Poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from Bacillus cereus S10

The biodegradable and biocompatible copolymer poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-5 mol% 3-hydroxyvalerate), poly-(3HB-co-5 mol% 3HV), was synthesized by Bacillus cereus S10 and the highest yield was determined as 69.91 % at pH 7 and 30 °C after 48 h of incubation using a glucose as the sole carbon source. Poly-(3HB-co-5 mol% 3HV) was purified from bacterial biomass using chloroform. FTIR analysis showed absorption bands at 1,723, 1,274, 1,373, 1,453, 2,932 cm^?1 corresponding to C=O, C–O stretching, CH₃, –CH₂ and –CH groups, respectively. ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR analysis confirmed that the copolymer was composed of 95 mol% of 3-hydroxybutrate and 5 mol% of 3-HV monomeric units. Poly-(3-HB-co-5 mol% 3HV) was used for nanoparticles preparation. The diameter of nanoparticles was 202 nm.