RT Journal Article
T1 High and tailored long-term accumulation of PHA enabled by a versatile mixed microbial culture
A1 López Garabato, Yolanda
A1 Correa Galeote, David
A1 Pedrouso Fuentes, Alba
A1 Mosquera Corral, Anuska
K1 Microbial enrichment
K1 Organic loading rate
K1 PHA monomer composition
K1 Pre-acidified wastewater
K1 Resource recovery
K1 Volatile fatty acids
AB Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), such as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) copolymers, are biopolymers that can serve as substitutes for conventional plastics as they have similar properties. The objective of this study was to develop a robust mixed microbial culture (MMC) enriched in microorganisms capable of accumulating high intracellular PHBV content. The MMC was successfully enriched and operated stably over thelong term (521 days) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) in which the carbon and nitrogen feeding were uncoupled. Its maximum PHBV accumulation capacity and biopolymer production yield were 62 wt% and 0.59 CmolPHBV/CmolVFA, respectively, and treated OLRs of up to 6 g COD/(L⋅d), which influenced the microbial community composition. The maximal accumulation capacity of the MMC, evaluated in batch experiments, was 83 wt% PHBV and yields of 0.63 CmolPHBV/CmolVFA. Similar results were obtained with the two synthetic volatile fatty acid (VFA) compositions tested. When the potential of this culture to use pre-acidified (VFA-rich) wastewater from fish canning residues as a substrate was evaluated, the highest obtained values were 56 wt% PHBV and 0.36 CmolPHBV/CmolVFA. The results demonstrate that PHBV composition can be adjusted by VFA feed composition (either synthetic or residual), highlighting the process versatility.
PB Elsevier
SN 2213-2929
YR 2026
FD 2026-04-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/47020
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/47020
LA eng
NO Lopez-Garabato, Y., Correa-Galeote, D., Pedrouso, A., & Mosquera-Corral, A. (2026). High and tailored long-term accumulation of PHA enabled by a versatile mixed microbial culture. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 14(3), 122460. 10.1016/j.jece.2026.122460
NO This research was granted through the BIOCENPLAS project from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Government of Spain) (2021-PN070) and by Grant POLYGO1 (TED2021–130164B-I00) funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. Authors also acknowledge Ramon y Cajal (RYC2023–044762-I) funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ESF+ . The authors would like to thank the RIAIDT-USC analytical facilities for their support.
DS Minerva
RD 22 may 2026