Valorization of Sugar Industrial Waste (Molasse) via Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production for a Sustainable Circular Economy

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Sugar industries are among the oldest food processing factories. Regrettably, main waste from sugar industries, are discharged without treatment in the environment. There are many wastes from raw to final product in sugar processes. Industrial waste requires proper management; otherwise, it causes a major effect on the environment. Molasse is one of the wastes from the sugar industry. However, it also has the potential to be transformed into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) via fermentation. This approach could reduce waste and solve an environmental pollution. In this study, a fermentation was conducted in shake-flask with <italic>Cupriavidus Necator.</italic> Three types of pretreatments of molasse were conducted to increase PHA production: i) sulfuric acid pretreatment; ii) enzymatic pretreatment and iii) pretreatment with activated carbon. Molasse pretreated with enzyme, incubated in a water bath for 5 h (60 °C, 150 rpm), allows to accumulate up to a maximum of 8.20 g/L cell dry mass (CDW), with a PHA content of 71.79 wt%. The use of molasse for PHA production, has the potential to drive sugar industry toward a circular bioeconomy. Because PHB obtained will use to produce bioplastic bag, for containing sugar.