Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from renewable resources: a review on prospects, challenges and applications.

Bioplastics replace synthetic plastics of petrochemical origin, which contributes challenge to both polymer quality and economics. Novel polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)-composite materials, with desirable product quality, could be developed, thus targeting the global plastics market, in the coming years. It is possible that PHA can be a greener substitute for their petroleum-based competitors since they are simply decomposed, which may lessen the pressure on municipal and industrial waste management systems. PHA production has proven to be the bottleneck in industrial application and commercialization because of the high price of carbon substrates and downstream processes required to achieve reliability. Bacterial PHA production by these municipal and industrial wastes, which act as a cheap, renewable carbon substrate, eliminates waste management hassles and acts as an efficient substitute for synthetic plastics. In the present review, challenges and opportunities related to the commercialization of polyhydroxyalkanoates are discussed and presented. Moreover, it discusses critical steps of their production process, feedstock evaluation, optimization strategies, and downstream processes. This information may provide us the complete utilization of bacterial PHA during possible applications in packaging, nutrition, medicine, and pharmaceuticals.

Rational use of antibiotics for major elective gynaecological and obstetrical surgical procedures: quality improvement journey from a tertiary care public facility.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance is a global problem. Irrational use of antibiotics is rampant. Guidelines recommend administration of single dose of antibiotic for surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SSAP) for elective obstetrical and gynaecological surgeries. However, it is not usually adhered to in practice. Majority of women undergoing elective major gynaecological surgeries and caesarean sections in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology of our tertiary level heavy case load public health facility were receiving therapeutic antibiotics (for 7-10 days) instead of recommended SSAP. Our aim was to increase the SSAP in our setting from a baseline 2.1% to more than 60% within 6 months. METHODS: After root cause analysis, we formulated the departmental antimicrobial policy, spread awareness and sensitised doctors and nursing officers regarding antimicrobial resistance and asepsis through lectures, group discussions and workshops. We initiated SSAP policy for elective major surgeries and formed an antimicrobial stewardship team to ensure adherence to policy and follow processes and outcomes. The point of care quality improvement (QI) methodology was used. Percentage of patients receiving SSAP out of all low-risk women undergoing elective surgery was the process indicator and percentage of patients developing surgical site infection (SSI) of all patients receiving SSAP was the outcome indicator. The impact of various interventions on these indicators was followed over time with run charts. RESULTS: SSAP increased from a baseline 2.1%-67.7% within 6 months of initiation of this QI initiative and has since been sustained at 80%-90% for more than 2 years without any increase in SSI rate. CONCLUSION: QI methods can rapidly improve the acceptance and adherence to evidence-based guidelines in a busy public healthcare setting to prevent injudicious use of antibiotics.

Optimization of Growth Conditions to Produce Sustainable Polyhydroxyalkanoate Bioplastic by Pseudomonas aeruginosa EO1.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are intracellularly synthesized by bacteria as carbonosomes that exhibit biodegradable thermoplastics and elastomeric properties. The use of cheaper edible oils as a source of carbon assists in the reduction of the production cost of such biopolyesters. In this work, different edible oils, such as groundnut oil (GNO), mustard oil, sesame oil, and soybean oil (SBO) were used to check their effect on PHA production from Pseudomonas aeruginosa EO1 (MK049902). Pseudomonas aeruginosa EO1 was used in a two-stage production system. In the first stage, bacterial growth was favored and, in the second, PHA was synthesized. GNO was found as the best carbon source for PHA production. The use of 2% (v/v) GNO, rich in saturated fatty acids, allowed PHA content of 58.41% and dry cell weight (DCW) of 10.5g/L at pH7 and temperature 35°C for 72h. Groundnut has a high potential for oil production and for the diversification of co-products with some potential of value aggregation. Such a perennial and sustainable species will almost certainly meet the criteria for becoming a significant commercial oilseed crop. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed strong characteristic bands at 1,282, 1,725, 2,935, 2,999, and 3,137cm-1 for the PHA polymer. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detects the presence of PHA copolymers.