Polyhydroxybutyrate as Bio-Degradable Plastic – A Review

Abstract

Plastic is one of the major source of pollutants at present time in the world, regularly used for packaging materials, carry bags, manufacturing of different types of materials etc. So, to reduce the increasing environmental pollution from synthetic plastic an alternative must be developed. This need can be fulfilled by use of bioplastics. Polyhydroxyalkanoates are polymers produced by bacteria among which Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is one major group. Bacterial polyesters have attracted much attention as biodegradable biocompatible polymers. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, a microbial produced thermoplastic and gained major importance due to their structural diversity and close analogy to plastics. These are gaining more and more importance world over. Different sources (natural isolates, recombinant bacteria, plants) and other methods are being investigated to exert more control over the quality, quantity and economics of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production. Some bacterial species like Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Aeromonas spp., Cupriavidus spp. have been extensively used for industrial production of PHB. The aim of writing this review is to help to take up research work on such PHB producing bacteria for bio-plastic and to replace the use of synthetic plastic.