A new way of quantifying the production of poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s using FTIR

MAURICIO A. PORRAS; MARÍA AMELIA CUBITTO; MARCELO A.VILLAR

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: LOndres; Año: 2015

0268-2575

Conventional techniques used for determination of extractable poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s (PHAs) present in cells are laborious and destructive. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is an indirect analytical method to study molecular structures and has been used for the detection and quantification of PHA in intact cells. However, obtain a fine powder with pure PHA to prepare KBr pellets is a difficult task. The objective of this study was to develop a cheap alternative for quantifying the extractable intracellular PHA, based on a pulverizable solid as a standard material (PEM: Pre Extraction Material) produced by Bacillus megaterium BBST4 strain, instead of pure PHA produced by the same strain. Through statistical analysis the correlation between sample content and its FTIR spectra were determined. The proposed methodology employs typical MID-FTIR equipment and KBr pellets for spectra determination.