Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHA) synthesis was based on pure culture of Cupriavidus necator DSMZ
545. Due to the high production cost of PHAs, the use of cheaper and available carbon sources was considered.
The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of sugarcane molasses as a low cost substrate and
acetate as media supplements in mineral medium for the cell growth and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB).
C. necator was cultivated in a 500ml shake flasks with 100 ml of the medium at 30°C for 96h, with agitation rate
of 250 rpm. Samples for product analysis were taken at 12h time interval. Sodium acetate was used as
supplementary substrate, it was added to molasses for the production of P(3HB). The obtained results showed
that with addition of acetate as supplementary carbon source, enhanced the biopolymer concentration to
2.85g/l.