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Research Article
1 November 1993

Isotactic polypropylene biodegradation by a microbial community: physicochemical characterization of metabolites produced

Abstract

From a selective enrichment culture prepared with different soil samples on starch-containing polyethylene we isolated four microaerophilic microbial communities able to grow on this kind of plastic with no additional carbon source. One consortium, designated community 3S, was tested with pure isotactic polypropylene to determine whether the consortium was able to degrade this polymer. Polypropylene strips were incubated for 5 months in a mineral medium containing sodium lactate and glucose in screw-cap bottles. Dichloromethane crude extracts of the cultures revealed that the weight of extracted materials increased with incubation time, while the polypropylene sample weight decreased. The extracted materials were characterized by performing chromatographic and spectral analyses (thin-layer chromatography, liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, infrared spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance). Three main fractions were detected and analyzed; a mixture of hydrocarbons at different degrees of functionalization was found together with a mixture of aromatic esters, as the plasticizers usually added to polyolefinic structures.

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Published In

cover image Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume 59Number 11November 1993
Pages: 3695 - 3700
PubMed: 8285678

History

Published online: 1 November 1993

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Authors

I Cacciari
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
P Quatrini
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
G Zirletta
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
E Mincione
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
V Vinciguerra
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
P Lupattelli
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
G Giovannozzi Sermanni
Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.

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