Production of poly(hydroxybutyrate–hydroxyvalerate) from waste organics by the two-stage process: Focus on the intermediate volatile fatty acids

The two-stage process, coupling volatile fatty acids (VFAs) fermentation and poly(hydroxybutyrate–hydroxyvalerate) (P(HB/HV)) biosynthesis, was investigated for five waste organic materials. The overall conversion efficiencies were glycerol > starch > molasses > waste sludge > protein, meanwhile the maximum P(HB/HV) (1.674 g/L) was obtained from waste starch. Altering the waste type brought more effects on VFAs composition other than the yield in the first stage, which in turn greatly changed the yield in the second stage. Further study showed that even-number carbon VFAs (or odd-number ones) had a good positive linear relationship with P(HB/HV) content of HB (or HV). Additionally, VFA producing microbiota was analyzed by pyrosequencing methods for five wastes, which indicated that specific species (e.g., Lactobacillus for protein; Ethanoligenens for starch; Ruminococcus and Limnobacter for glycerol) were dominant in the community for VFAs production. Potential competition among acidogenic bacteria specially involved to produce some VFA was proposed as well.