Valorization of sugar extracted from wheat straw for eco-friendly polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production by Bacillus megaterium MTCC 453

The valorization of wheat straw can be applied to produce sustainable bioproducts. The objective of this study is to produce a sustainable bioplastic; Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) using wheat straw as a carbon source after pretreatment, using mild acids and alkalis. The qualitative Molisch test validated the presence of carbohydrates by observance of purple-ring formation at the interface, whereas the quantitative DNS test showed a maximum sugar yield of 4.9 mu g/mL in the 4 % H2SO4-treated wheat straw extract at p < 0.05. This extract was efficiently utilized by Bacillus megaterium MTCC 453 to produce PHA (30 mg/L), as confirmed by UV-spectroscopy and FT-IR analysis. These results confirm the applicability of producing sustainable PHA excluding the usage of industrial enzymes and any additional carbon/nitrogen sources to produce PHAs. The findings offer a promising alternative to mitigate the effect of global warming caused by the combustion of agricultural biomass and contribute to achieving sustainable development goals.