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Manufacturing of value added products from silkworm pupae

Spent silkworm pupae are a waste material often discarded in the open environment or used as fertilizer. In silk producing areas, the disposal of large quantities of pupae can cause serious environmental problems. The utilization of this resource for feed and food or for the production of valuable biological substances such as oil, protein, and chitin is a way to reduce the environmental impact of silk production. Extracted oil can be used for manufacturing industrial products such as bioplastics (Polyhydroxyalkanoates) for aquaculture, agriculture, cosmetics and commodities and extracted protein will be used as livestock feed, notably for poultry, pigs and fish. Finally, remaining residues will be used for the production of chitin and chitosan.

Conversion of Silkworm pupae oil into Polyhydroxyalkanoates (Bioplastics)

Production of polyhydroxyalknaotes (PHA) is being done by bioconversion of silkworm pupae oil as it is very economical carbon source. In this project, a high yield and recovery of PHA from bacterial cells are being done using already established upstream and downstream processes by the applicant. As the economic model of PHA production is always depend on the raw material used as a source of carbon, the bioconversion of silkworm pupae oil into PHA would have major impact on the product price. This is why industrialists are turning to waste oils or organic waste, which are much cheaper. In this case, the production also provides an ecosystem service that can be valued economically. As outcome of this project, highly efficient and a low cost biopellets will be developed, which would certainly cause a major impact in aquaculture industry.

PHAs production

Aurapha developed a high cell density fermentation process for producing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) that transform the carbon sources contained fats and sugars. The properties of PHA produced enable them to replace many oil-based plastics at commercial level, with the added benefit of being biodegradable and biocompatible.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable in soil and water by the microorganisms naturally present in the environment.

The Aurapha fermentation technology was designed to enhance the properties of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). At present There are two different biopolymer produced at Aurapha such as

P(3HB), Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate

P(3HB-co-3HV), Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate.

These two biopolymers are suitable for replacing the petrochemical based products due to its flexible and compatible with other biopolymer depending on the application.

The process of PHA production as follows:

a) Fermentation (Up-stream);

b) Recovery and purification (Down-stream);

a) Fermentation.

Aurapha fermentation process is based on the ability of microorganism to metabolize carbon sources and convert them to polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The carbon sources used have variable origins, e.g.: Silk industry by-products and fats of various origin. These fermentation process consists of two phases, i) Growth phase ii) PHA accumulation phase. we provide all the necessary nutritional elements and suitable process parameters (pH, temperature and pressure) in order for the microorganism to multiply faster. Later, excess carbon source will be provided to microorganisms to store the PHA in the cytoplasm as carbon and energy storage compound.

b) Recovery and purification.

PHAs are accumulated in the bacterial cell cytoplasm, it is necessary to lyse the cells in order to recover the PHA granules. In addition, the PHA granules are closely associated with several types of proteins which are located on the surface of the granules. Aurapha developed aquous based extraction process to recover the PHA granules from cell biomass.

Application

PHA for recirculating aquaculture systems.

PHA used in recirculating aquaculture systems for reducing the nitrate and phosphate content in the marine or fresh water aquarium. PHA consists of 100 % of biologically degradable polymers, it also provides an additional benefit of providing a surface area and nutrient source for nitrate-removing bacteria. As they grow, the bacteria utilize PHA as an organic source of carbon (energy source) and the phosphate and nitrate from the aquarium water as a source of nitrogen and phosphate. The waste products from the excess feed and the feaces from fish consists of nitrate and phosphate which are converted into microbial biomass and then removed from the aquarium by protein skimmer or as an additional feed source (bacterial plankton) by filter feeders, mussels, sponges and corals.

Controlled release fertilizer

The global usage of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) fertilizer was forecasted to increase annually an average of 1.5, 2.2, 2.4% from 2015-2020 to fulfill the agriculture demand. However, the nutrient from the uncoated fertilizer is not completely available for the plants to uptake due to leaching, runoff, and volatilization. Fertilizer loss increases the cost of agriculture production while causing more environmental pollution. Therefore, an innovation was introduced where fertilizers are coated to have them released in a controlled manner and to supply enough nutrients to meet the plants’ demands at different growth stages. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are the biodegradable polymer produced by the microorganisms. PHA was evaluated as controlled release fertilizer matrix. The results revealed that these formulations have the beneficial effect on the plant growth and soil microbial community.

Cosmetics

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is biodegradable and biocompatible which can be used in the formulation of personal care and cosmetic products. The size of granules produced by the microorganisms around 1 to 2 micron that can be a advantage of replacing microbeads in shampoo, soaps and other cosmetic products such as lipstick, lip gloss, mascara, eye-liner, nail polish, creams and shampoo contain plastic polymers, especially in the form of microbeads. Currently, all these microbeads used in the cosmetic products are obtained from petrochemical based polymers. The limitation of using this microbeads due to non-biodegradable in environment. Hence, these microbeads slowly getting into food chain through the plankton-Fish-Human beings. Aurapha microbeads solve all these environmental problems due to biodegradable in nature, PHA based microbeads gets deffraded by the microorganisms present in the environment. Moreover, it is bio-compatible and bioabsorbable material coming into contact with the skin, lips, hair and mucous membranes.

Alternative to Single-Use- Plastics

The production and consumption of single-use plastics in India have drastically increased in the last few years. As currently, India generates 26,000 tons of plastics per day and out of which 43% of manufactured plastics belong to the category of single-use plastics. Due to favourable factors like lower cost and availability across the country, it is estimated that India's average per capita consumption of plastic is going to increase from 11 kg to 20 kg by 2020. In developing countries like India, due to the poor waste management systems and lack of disposal facilities, and non-biodegradable nature of such petroleum-based plastics accumulated in the environment and cause a lot of damage to the environment by polluting land and, oceans, groundwater, and air. According to the recent reports, the rate of growth in the supply of virgin plastics will likely keep coming with new products that will also put the environment in danger. India has unveiled a program to phase out single-use plastics by 2022. The Union government of India has released a draft proposing the complete prohibition of manufacturing, use, sale, imports, and handling of single-use plastics. Its first phase is likely to be launched in September 2021. In this context, Aurapha private Limited has proposed PHA polymer as an alternative to single-use-plastics.