ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the use of crude glycerol, an inexpensive renewable feedstock, for the economical production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) polymers. Crude glycerol is a byproduct of many industrial bioprocesses, and surplus amounts of it are released into the environment as waste, thereby necessitating the search for appropriate methods of its disposal. An intriguing solution is the conversion of crude glycerol into value-added products, such as microbial PHA polymers. PHA are biodegradable, environmentally friendly thermoplastics and elastomers that can be potentially used for numerous applications in packaging, food, and biomedical industries. This chapter includes the source of origin, their composition, and the challenges of using crude glycerol as a substrate in white biotechnology. The present chapter mainly discusses recent research related to process optimization for the production of different types of PHA and their characterization using crude glycerol. It provides an insight into the metabolic-engineering-based strategies of glycerol-based PHA production. The effect of glycerol on the molecular mass of biopolyesters and their material properties are also discussed in detail.
