Principles of Glycerol-Based Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production

The article addresses the contemporary quest for inexpensive carbon feedstocks to be used for cost-efficient bio-mediated polymer production. In particular, the work shines a light on crude glycerol, a surplus stream of the globally tremendously emerging biodiesel industry. Crude glycerol can be upgraded to a convenient substrate for microbial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production without interfering with food- or feed production. The article covers the challenges of crude glycerol as feedstock in biotechnology, and gives an insight into the metabolic background of glycerol-based PHA-production. Particularities of glycerol-based PHA biosynthesis, such as the characteristic formation of low-molar mass polyesters, are also discussed in the presented work.