Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |1

REVIEW
Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Synthesis and Application
Nguyen Nguyen Xuan Vu (BI236), Nguyen Tien Hoang (BI9107)

ABSTRACT
As the humanity is entering the plastic age, the waste from synthetic polymers
has become a major problem since it would take thousands of years for these
material to completely decompose in the environment after being discarded.
A solution that receives many attentions nowadays is developing bio-
degradable polymers that can replace petroleum-based polymers. Such
material includes polyhydroxyalkanoate, a family of polymers synthesized via
bacterial fermentation. The polymers show comparable properties with their
synthetic counterparts, and can be applied in a number of aspects including
food packaging, drug delivery, medical implantation…

1. INTRODUCTION the source but mainly on the nature of the material,

Biodegradable plastics are plastics that are naturally
biodegradable due to the effects of microorganisms
such as bacteria, mold, actinomycetes and enzymes,
into CO2, CH4, water, inorganic compounds,
biomass, without leaving any substances that could
harm the environment. The biodegradation of
plastics depends on the respective external
conditions, which may be anaerobic or aerobic.
or chemical structure and biodegradation
environment. When a biodegradable material (pure
polymer, mixed product, or composite) is obtained
entirely from renewable sources, it is called a green
polymer material. The life cycle of biodegradable
polymers is depicted in Figure 1.
To make sure that plastics are correctly labeled as
"biodegradable", definitions as listed below should
be carefully:

Aerobic biodegradation: - Bioplastic: a group of materials that meet the

Cplastic + O2 → CO2 + H2O + Cfixed + Cbiomass
Anaerobic biodegradation:
Cplastic → CO2 + CH4 + H2O + Cfixed + Cbiomass
Biodegradable plastics can be obtained from
renewable or synthetic sources of petroleum-based
chemicals. Mixing of two or more biodegradable
polymers can produce a biodegradable material
(Biodegradable plastics) that conforms to certain
requirements. Biodegradability does not depend on
criteria, are either of biomass origin (maize,
sugarcane, cellulose, etc.) or biodegradable or both;
- Bio-based/ plant-based: A material or product
(or a part of product) derived from biomass (plant).
The source of biomass used in this bioplastic group
is usually corn, sugarcane, cellulose, etc. This group
may or may not be biodegradable.
- Biodegradable: Biodegradation is a chemical
process in which microorganisms available in the
environment convert materials into natural
substances such as CO2, H2O and compost (without
artificial additives). The process of biodegradation
depends on the ambient conditions (light,

Figure 1. Life cycle of biodegradable polymers (source: European Bioplastics)
temperature, oxygen, water), depending on the
nature of the decomposition material.
- Compostable: Can decompose by composting
under certain conditions, or according to defined
standards. When a material is compostable, it
means that it can biodegrade in a given time, under
certain conditions. However, not all 100% of
biodegrable plastic can be composted, because the
composting components will lose the usage value of
compost.
- Degradable: All plastic materials are capable of
decaying. It is possible to disintegrate plastic by
mechanical methods such as, crushing, crushing,
grinding, ... Some plastics are added with additives
to accelerate the decomposition process under
certain conditions. such as: Light (photodegradable
plastic) oxygen (Oxo-degradable plastic).
Mechanical decay resins into micro or nano-plastic
fragments. In the case of chemical decay, the resin
reacts with oxygen in a humid environment,
promoted by the light into CO2 and water.
- Oxo-biodegradable plastic: Plastic made from
traditional petroleum-based materials, mixed with
special additives to force it to decay. This additive
Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |2
may include heavy metals, or cornstarch, to weaken
the texture and easily decay.
- Hydro-biodegradable plastic: Plastics can be of
biological origin like cornstarch, plants ... or minerals
but biodegradable. These materials are to be
biodegradable, in industrialized areas, under
defined conditions, published in the standards for
biodegradable materials.
The production of petroleum based plastics has a big
disadvantage of generating non-degradable waste
products. The non-biodegradable nature of these
products, due to their high molecular mass and
complex structure imparts a high environmental
burden as they can remain in water bodies, soil and
landfill for many years. Concerns over the harmful
effects of these petrochemical derived plastics by
public and environmental bodies have been
increased. This awareness prompted a global
scientific drive to develop alternative green, eco-
friendly and biodegradable polyesters and plastics
substitutes such as PHA or PLA
Polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHAs are linear
biopolyesters. They are biodegradable polyesters
produced and stored within cells as energy and

carbon storage materials by various
microorganisms. The French scientist Lemoigne first
discovered PHA in Bacillus megaterium in the form
of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) in 1925. Now,
researches have shown that PHAs can be produced
under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions by
more than 90 genera of both Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacteria… PHA have suitable
properties like biocompatibility and
biodegradability to apply in various industries such
as biomedical sector including tissue engineering,
bio-implant patches, drug delivery, surgery and
wound dressing. Accordingly, PHAs are “green
plastic” which can replace almost common plastic
made from fossil fuel such as polyethylene (PE),
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)...
PHAs’ costs are expensive, due to low yield of
fermentation. A PHA plastic bag can be 3 times
more expensive compared to other material (i.e An
Phat PHA plastic bag of Vietnam). However, with
positive social and environmental impact when
compared with conventional plastics in terms of
production and recycling, this material still be
ameliorating: manufacturers are trying to increase
the fermentation yields or finding a more
economical substitute source of Carbon.
Plastics can be made absolutely from PHAs.
Nevertheless, to reduce the cost, PHAs usually
combine with starch or cellulose. By this way, their
biodegradable ability rose. PHAs plastic can degrade
completely in soil where rich microorganism and
mushroom are in. A special enzyme from the
bacterial damaged PHAs plastic. It takes them about
2 months to degrade naturally. However, the
process in sea water is much slower than normal,
about 50% in 6 months. And there is a drawback of
this combination method that it can remain non-
biodegradable waste for example PE in the PE-PHA
bottle.
Side information
Nowadays, many plastic products are labeled
“biodegradable”, while consumers cannot
distinguish between biodegradable and non-
biodegradable products. Hence, some standards
Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |3
test or certificates will definite biodegradable
products, such as:
- BIP Compostable (Biodegradable Products
Institute Compostable): the BPI certified
compostable program applies science-base testing
to prove a material that will compost in a municipal
or commercial facility, leaving no toxic or lingering
plastic residues in the soil. The certified
compostable program certificate uses a specific set
of testing criteria published by somes standards as
ASTM D6400 for plastic or ASTM D6868 for coated
paper products or where polymers are used a
binder;
- TUV OK biobased: Product certification based on
renewable raw materials. On a basis of the
determined percentage of renewable raw materials
(% Bio-based), the product can be certified as one-
star-bio-based, two-star-bio-based, three-star-bio-
base or four-star-bio-base. Not all these products
are biodegradable;
- TUV OK compost: Packaging or products featuring
the OK compost INDUSTRIAL label are guaranteed as
biodegradable in an industrial composting plant.
This applies to all components, inks and additives.
The sole reference point for the certification
programme is the harmonised EN 13432:2000
standard: in any event any product featuring the OK
compost INDUSTRIAL logo complies with the
requirement of the EU Packaging Directive
(94/62/EEC);
- TUV OK compost HOME: Owing to the
comparatively smaller volume of waste involved,
the temperature in a garden compost heap is clearly
lower and less constant than in an industrial
composting environment. This is why composting in
the garden is a more difficult, slower-paced process.
ÜV AUSTRIA’s innovative answer to this challenge
was to develop OK compost HOME to guarantee
complete biodegradability in the light of specific
requirements, even in your garden compost heap.
OK compost HOME is not based on a standard but is
the basis for several standards, such as: AS 5810 -
Biodegradable plastics suitable for home
composting, NF T 51800 - Specifications for plastics
suitable for home composting, prEN 17427 -
Requirements and test scheme for carrier bags

suitable for treatment in well-managed home
composting installations;
- TUV OK biodegradable SOIL: Biodegradability in
the soil offers huge benefits for agricultural and
horticultural products, as they can be left to break
down in situ after being used. The OK biodegradable
SOIL label is a guarantee a product will completely
biodegrade in the soil without adversely affecting
the environment;
- TUV OK biodegradable WATER: Products certified
for OK biodegradable WATER guarantee
biodegradation in a natural fresh water
environment, and thus substantially contribute to
the reduction of waste in rivers, lakes or any natural
fresh water. Note that this not automatically
guarantees biodegradation in marine waters;
- Din-Certo v: Din-Certo certify industrial
compostable products accroding to EN 13432 and
other national and international standards, where
applicable. DIN CERTCO Gesellschaft für
Konformitätsbewertung mbH offers certification for
products made from biodegradable materials which
are compatible with home and garden composting.
It awards the "DIN-Geprüft home compostable"
mark for this, along with an individual registration
number. Compostability linked with
biodegradability represents an important element
of the recycle management system. The
internationally recognised "DIN-Geprüft" mark from
DIN CERTCO can now also be awarded to products
which can be composted in the garden. Certification
is possible on the basis of the following current
standard: AS 5810, NF T 518000.
Products that stand on ASTM D6400 or D6868
standard are considered biodegradable abilities.
However, in the marine environment, ASTM D6691
is applied. In compost home case, some standards
are used such as: AS 5810 and AS 4736 in Australia,
NF T 51800 in France, EN 17427 in Europe,
certificates from TUV Din-Certo in Austria-Belgium
as: OK Compost Home, DIN-OK Compost Home, DIN-
Geprüft Home Compostable Mark and Australasian
Bioplastics Association (ABA) Home Compostable.
Others will be applied for products that compost in
an anaerobic environment industry like
EN/13432/14995, EN 13432 - packing, EN 14995 –
plastic in Europe, ASTM D6400 in the USA. In Japan,
Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |4
there are not any standards but they are applied via
GreenPla program (responded about 60% of organic
materials transform to CO2 in minimum). Here some
trademarks are popular such as ABA Compostable
Seedling, TUV OK Compost, the DIN-Geprüft
Industrial Compostable Mark and BPI Compostable.
According to the survey of patent registration based
on Thomson Innovation database, it shows:
- About 1446 patents related to biodegradable
plastic have been registered for protection (from
1977-2015). The first patent, in 1977, filed in France
involved the design of making a box made from
biodegradable plastic;
- From 1977-1989, the number of patents applied
for registration was not much (<10 inventions/year),
soared in 1990 with nearly 30 patents and peaked in
2002 with 92 patents;
- Currently, patents related to biodegradable
plastic are being applied for protection in about 42
countries around the world, mainly in Japan, China,
USA, Korea and Germany.
In addition, there are currently about 180
enterprises specializing in manufacturing bioplastics
in general and biodegradable plastics in particular.
Among them, there are 45 companies in Germany,
USA and Japan. According to estimation, by 2020,
the market share of the bioplastic industry has a
turnover of about US $ 30 billion, by 2030 expected
to reach US $ 324 billion.
This information shows that the development of
biodegradable plastic production technology has
great potential and is the general development
trend of the plastic industry worldwide.

1. MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF PHA
PHAs are polyhydroxyesters of 3, 4, 5 and 6-
hydroxylalkanoic acids. The monomers are either
achiral or chiral with R configuration (Figure 2) [1].
Figure 2. General structure of PHAs and
some examples.
The PHA polymers are sorted into 2 types: short-
chain-length PHA (scl-PHA) and medium-chain-
length PHA (mcl-PHA). 3-hydroxylbutyrate (3HB), 3-
hydroxylvalerate (3HV) and 4-hydroxylbutyrate
(4HB) are the most common building blocks
representing for scl-PHA. The mcl-PHAs are made up
of building block of at least 6 carbon atoms.
Examples of the monomers are 3-
hydroxylhexanoate (HHx) and 3-hydroxyloctanoate
(HO). In addition to these simple representatives,
the side chains of mcl-PHAs can contain chemical
functionalities such as double bonds, aromatic rings,
functional groups or chemical elements like
halogens, nitrogen, sulfur…[1]
2. BIOSYNTHESIS AND PRODUCTION
Briefly, PHAs are synthesized from various bacterial
strains and renewable organic carbon sources.
Under limited-nutrient condition, the bacteria can
stack carbon inside their cells as energy reservoir or
fat under the form of PHAs. The PHAs are then
purified and collected for further processing. By
changing the bacteria family and carbon source,
different PHAs can be produced.
2.1. Biosynthesis
Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |5
PHA granules are accumulated inside the bacteria in
the presence of an excess carbon source and a
deprivation of other elements, such as nitrogen [2].
There are three factors could affect the products:
the microorganism used, the carbon source and the
fermentation condition.
PHA synthases are the crucial enzymes of the
biosynthesis of PHA. Therefore, only bacteria strains
that contain this type of enzyme could be used to
produce PHA, such as Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas,
Enterobacter, Necator, Rhodobacter, Ralstonia and
Cupriavidus. Under suitable condition, certain
cyanobacteria and halophiles can also accumulate
PHAs [3].
It is also stated that, not only the biocatalysts are
responsible for the structure, composition and
properties of PHAs but also the carbon substrate
used to growth them. Since the substrate molecules
need to be transported through the rigid thick cell
wall of the microorganism, it is preferred for the
molecules to be small. Large polymeric molecules
need to be pretreated extracellularly either by a
chemical process or by the microorganism itself to
become smaller for utilization. Generally, the
substrates can be categorized into three types:
simple sugars, triacylglycerol and hydrocarbons.
Simple sugars can be used by most of the PHA-
producing bacteria, and triacylglycerol is usable for
a limited range of microorganism. Only
Pseudomonas species can undergo hydrocarbon
metabolism. Using a same substrate, different
microorganism can produce different PHAs
composition. The information about substrates and
their corresponding bacteria and products is
summarized in Figure 3 [4].
Most of the carbon sources used in recent industrial
manufacturing of PHAs are food-based, namely food
crops, sugar cane and vegetable oils, as listed in
Table 1. This results in a competition between the
production of carbon source and food supply
production. For example, 34,000 tons of PHA
produced per year would utilize about 126,000 tons
of corn [4]. Thus a matter of interest now is to find
 Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |6

Figure 3. A summary of the substrate and microorganism that can biosynthesis PHAs. Blue arrows
indicate substrates added later during the fermentation process to make copolymers.

Table 1. Various PHA producers and their carbon source used

a non-food-based carbon source, or better, recycle
the wasted carbon. These carbon source could be
molasses; lactose from whey; cellulose hydrolysates
from the reject fiber wastes from the paper
industry; glycerol and methanol from biodiesel
production wastes; and lipids from plant and animal
waste (M. Koller, 2014).
Another crucial factor is the fermentation process.
At first the bacteria strain is cultivated in mineral
medium which contains all necessary elements for
 Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |7

the growth of the bacteria, namely phosphor (from
phosphate salts), nitrogen (from urea) and some
metal ions, along with an excess amount of carbon
from a carbon source like sugar or fatty acid. After
other elements are depleted, the microorganism
starts to accumulate the carbon intracellularly
under the form of PHAs [5]. Parameters that need to
be considered are: pH, temperature, shaking rate,
fermentation scheme. These factors, in combination
with microorganism strains and carbon sources
would determine the composition of PHAs as
illustrated by examples listed in Table 2 [3].

Table 2. PHA synthesized under various condition

 Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |8

The metabolism process of the microorganism

follows several pathways as shown in Figure 4. The
sugars follow glycosylation pathway, which is
contributed by the enzymes β-ketothiolase (phaA),
acetoacetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) reductase (phaB),
PHA synthase (phaC). Take glucose for example,
after enter the cell, the sugar is glycolysized to
become acetyl –CoA. Two acetyl-CoA molecules are
condensed to form acetoacetyl-CoA, catalyzed by β-
ketothiolase. The compound is subsequently
reduced to 3-hydroxylbutyryl CoA, which is the
monomer for P3HB, by the reductase. Finally, the
PHA synthase catalyses the condensation of the
monomers to form P3HB. An alternative pathway is
the β–oxidation pathway, in which the anoyl-
coenzyme A hydratase (PhaJ) and 3-ketoacyl acyl
carrier protein (ACP) reductase (FabG) are
responsible for converting the 3-enoyl-CoA and 3-
ketoacyl-CoA, respectively, to (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-
CoA. The β–oxidation pathway is more preferred by Figure 5. General overview of PHA production
fatty acids, therefore the main products of this process
pathway are mcl-PHAs [5].
fermentation step, but generally they can be
categorized into discontinuous and continuous
configurations. Typically, P(3HB-co-3HV), which is
sold under the trade name BIOPOL, has been
produced in 200,000l fermenters. The fermentation
utilizes 2 steps fed batch process, using a mutant of
Ralstonia eutropha as the microorganism. During
the first step, the bacteria are growth in a mineral
salt medium containing a calculated amount of
phosphate and glucose as the sole carbon source. As
the cells grow, phosphate is depleted from the
Figure 4. Intracellular pathways of PHA biosynthesis. medium. In the second step, as the phosphate runs
Abbreviation: PhaA, β-ketothiolase; PhaB, out, the polymers start to be produced and stored
acetoacetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) reductase; PhaC, PHA inside the bacteria cells, with glucose fed to the
synthase; FabG, 3-ketoacyl acyl carrier protein (ACP)
culture. It takes 48h for each step. This procedure
reductase; PhaJ, anoyl-coe.
can produce BIOPOL at a yield of 100g/l [6].
After the fermentation process, the PHA need to be
In industrial PHA production, all processes consist of separated from the cells via recovery step, using
a fermentation step, followed by recovery step and conventional procedure such as centrifugation,
further processing for specific application (Figure 5) filtration, or flocculation-centrifugation. The
[6]. There can be several schemes for the common method involves the extraction of polymer

using solvents (chloroform, methylene chloride,
propylene carbonate, dichloroethane) to dissolve
the PHAs. However, this method requires a large
amount of solvent. Alternatively, a non-solvent
recovery process has been developed. After expose
to a temperature of 80oC, the broth is treated with
a mixture of hydrolytic enzyme of lysozyme,
phospholipase, lecithinase, the proteinase alcalse,
and others. These enzymes can hydrolyze the
cellular components, leaving the polymer remains
intact. After washing, flocculation and drying, the
polymer is collected [6].
3. PROPERTIES
3.1. Physical properties
The simplest case of homopolymer poly(3-(R)-
hydroxylbutyrate) (PHB) is a highly crystalline and
brittle thermoplastic. It has the melting point of
175oC, which is slightly lower than its degrading
temperature (185oC), makes it difficult for molding
processing. However, PHB exhibits good moisture
resistance, water insolubility and optical purity.
To be able to use PHB for cases that requires
flexibility, one must decrease its brittleness, as well
as separate the melting point from degrading point.
This can be achieved by blending PHB with other
polymers or producing copolymer of 3-
hydroxylbutyrate with another monomer, such as 3-
hydroxylvalerate (3HV). Take the case of poly (3HB-
co-3HV) as example, by changing the composition of
the two monomers, one can tune the properties of
this copolymers. It is reported that the elongation at
break of the material increases and the melting
point decreases as the 3HV fraction increase,
without any change in the degrading point (Table 3)
[7]. This allows melt extrusion, injection molding or
thermoforming without thermal degradation.
Others scl-PHAs more or less share the same traits,
like poly(4-hydroxylbutyrate) represents a highly
elastic material with an enormous elongation to
break up to 1000% and a glass transition
temperature as low as -50oC.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate review |9
Table 3. Characteristic thermos-mechanic features
of poly (3HB-co-3HV) at different ratio of 3HV
monomer
For the case of mcl-PHAs, such as 3-
hydroxylhexanoate (HHx) or 3-hydroxyoctanoate
(HO), they are softer, lower crystallinity and lower
melting point. They also have extremely low glass
transition temperature, make them suitable for
storing foods under freezing condition.
3.2. Biodegradability
PHAs are classified as biodegradable polymers. They
are considered as energy source for the
microorganisms. Under microbially active
environments, PHAs are degraded into smaller units
or monomers, which are used by the cells as carbon
source for biomass growth. The end products of the
biodegradation process are carbon dioxide and
water in aerobic condition and methane in
anaerobic condition. The degradation rate depends
on many factors, including surface area, pH,
temperature, moisture, concentration of other
nutrient materials and the activity of the
microorganism. For example, it has been reported
that poly(HB-co-HV) is degraded completely after 6,
75 and 350 weeks in anaerobic sewage, soil and sea
water, respectively [8].
4. APPLICATIONS
The properties of PHAs has drawn interest as
biocompatible plastics for a wide range of

applications, namely packaging, medical implant,
drug carrier…
4.1. Food packaging
The properties of PHAs meet many required
features to be applied as food packaging. The
materials must be able to flexible enough to be able
to enclose the food, but also protect it from the
environment like microbial attack, UV- radiation,
chemical and mechanical damage.
Bucci et al. has conducted several experiments to
test the mechanical properties of PHB jars, whether
it is suitable for food packaging compared with poly
propylene (PP). It is shown that compared to PP,
PHB exhibits a significantly lower resistance to
dynamic compression. The deformation value of
PHB is only around 50% of PP. Under normal
refrigerator condition, the performance of PHB is
worse than PP in term of mechanical stability.
However, at high temperature condition, PHB
shown higher strength. Also, the sensorial test
shown that PHB can substitute PP in packaging for
the storage of fat rich foods, both in freezers and
microwave ovens [9]. In another work of the same
author, it is revealed that PHB can act as UV light
barrier. The transmission was zero in the region of
250-350 nm [10].
Another property needs to be considered is
chemical (oxygen, water, CO2) permeability. This
property will determine whether the material is
suitable to be a chemical barrier for long
conservation of foods.
The water vapor permeability Is quantified by the
water vapor permeability coefficient (WVPC) or the
water vapor transfer rate (WVTR). Several polymers
films of the same thickness were prepared and the
WVTR values are measured at a same condition. The
results show that PHBV has significantly lower
WVTR value compared with other related polymers
[11]. It is also noted that, as the molar ratio of 3HV
in PHBV increases, the gas permeability of the
material also increases [11].
P o l y h y d r o x y a l k a n o a t e r e v i e w | 10
4.2. Medical applications
4.2.1. Tissue engineering
It has been verified by several reports, including in
vivo and in vitro studies, that PHA family is highly
biocompatible with blood, bone, cartilage tissue and
other cell lines [12]–[14]. Moreover, PHA polymers
cover a wide range of materials, from soft and
elastomeric to hard and brittle materials, make
them flexible to be applied in numerous biomedical
applications. For the past few decades, PHB,
copolymers of 3-hydroxylbutyrate and poly 4-
hydroxybutyrate (P4HB), PHBV, copolymers of 3-
hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate
(PHBHHx) and poly 3-hydroxyoctanoate (PHO) and
their composite have been used to develop several
conventional medical devices and tissue
engineering. Commercial products of PHA in
biomedical applications include a variety of forms,
such as suture, pins, screw, films, nonwoven fibrous
materials…
During the process of producing PHA, there can be a
pyrogen such as an endotoxin, which can be a
problem for implanting purpose, contained inside
the material. Therefore, the pyrogen needs to be
removed by an oxidizing agent such as hydrogen
peroxide and benzoyl peroxide to reduce the
pyrogen content so that the PHA does not elicit an
acute inflammatory response when implanted in a
body.
It has been reported by Doyle et al. that PHB-based
materials have been implanted to support bone
tissue regeneration. It is observed that a consistent
new bone tissue growth produced by the materials
around the implants without any inflammatory
response after 12 months of implantation.
However, PHA pure polymers still have less
bioactivity function than the native host tissues, and
they are often to mechanically weak to meet the
adequate performance. This problem can be solved
by adding inorganic bioceramic materials, such as
hydroxylapatite (HA), zirconia and alumina,
bioactive glasses and resorbable calcium
 P o l y h y d r o x y a l k a n o a t e r e v i e w | 11

phosphate-based bioceramics. The addition of the

bioceramic materials can enhance both mechanical
property and biological activity of PHA [15].
PHA is also a promising material for developing
tissue-engineered blood vessels. The candidate
materials are P3HB, P4HB, PBHHx and PHO [16].
4.2.2. Drug delivery
The applications of PHAs in drug delivery are based
on their biodegradability and hydrophobic behavior,
makes them be able encapsulate hydrophobic drugs
efficiently in the form of micro- and nanoparticles. A Figure 7. General routes for fabrication of PHA-based
large effort has been put to investigate PHAs such as medical devices.
PHB and PHBV for the fabrication of microcapsules
and microspheres for a large number of drugs,
including anesthetics, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory
agents, anticancer agents, hormones, steroids, and
vaccines [17]–[21].
PHB and P(HB-co-HV) have been researched as
matrix carriers for the drug delivery of antibiotics
and drug molecules. The releasing period of the
materials ranges from 15 to 60 days. The period is
affected by the molecular mass of the polymers
being used. As the molecular mass increases, the
Figure 8. PHA market growth analysis. Abbreviation:
release rate is generally slowed down. For the case
APAC = Asia-Pacific Region; ROW = Rest of World
of P(HB-co-HV), the releasing time length also
depends on the percentage of HV component in the In 2019, the market size of PHA reached USD 57
copolymers, that is, as the percentage of HV million, which is still relatively small compared with
increases, the release rate is increased and vice PE market (~USD 174 billion in 2018). The market
versa [22]–[26]. shows a gradual increment over the last 3 years and
is predicted to keep increasing and reach USD 98
Figure 7 summarizes the process routes for the
million in 2024 (Figure 8).
fabrication of PHA-based materials.
In Vietnam, the producing of PHA has been initiated
5. PHA MARKET
by An Phat Group for food-based applications.
One challenge for PHA for its wide application is its
6. CONCLUSIONS
high production cost. The price of PHA is estimated
to range from US$ 2.25 to US$ 2.75/lb, which is 3-4 Although synthetic polymers exhibit excellent
times higher than the price of conventional mechanical features and play an important part in
polymers like PP and PE [27]. Therefore, currently our daily life, the waste of these materials have
PHAs are only considered to be applied in advanced become a threat for the environment. PHAs are a
applications. family of polymers that can biodegrade by the
microorganisms to become environmentally

harmless substances like CO2 and water. The PHAs
are biosynthesized using a group of bacteria
containing PHA synthases. The polymers are
accumulated intracellularly as a carbon stock of the
cells as others nutrient components are depleted.
The PHAs having many commons in term of
physicochemical and thermomechanical properties
with their petroleum-based counterparts like PP
and PE. By changing the production condition, these
properties can be controlled.
Since the PHAs family covers a wide range of
materials, it can be implemented in a variety of
aspects, from food containers to biological devices.
However, the high cost of production remains as a
barrier for wide application of PHA.
 REFERENCES
[1] N. Graz, “Poly ( hydroxyalkanoates ) for Food
Packaging : Application and Attempts
towards Implementation,” vol. 1, no. 1, pp.
3–15, 2014.
[2] M. S. M. Annuar, I. K. P. Tan, and K. B.
Ramachandran, “Research Note: Evaluation
of nitrogen sources for growth and
production of medium-chain-length poly-(3-
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