Microbial polyester polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a carbon-neutral and
environmental-friendly material with high commercial value due to its biodegradability
and biocompatibility properties. PHA was originally thought to comprise of a single
monomeric repeat unit of 3-hydroxybutyrate, but this notion has been since overthrown
with the discovery of other chemically-distinct PHA monomers. To date, more than
150 PHA monomers have been documented. A PHA molecule may consist of two or
more PHA monomers, endowing PHA polymer with high chemical diversity. This
enables PHA materials of varied properties to be produced and tailored for applicationspecific
purposes. However, the sheer number of chemically-diverse PHA monomers
has also made the task of PHA analysis an extremely challenging one. Numerous
techniques have been exploited for the detection, quantification, and characterization of
microbial intracellular PHA and PHA polymers. New techniques are also continuously being developed with advancing instrumentation capabilities. This book chapter
introduces the basic working principles underlying current and emerging PHA
analytical techniques, and summarizes key protocols and information related to these
techniques. The potential applications of emerging techniques are also highlighted and
discussed.
Keywords: Biopolyester, Capillary electrophoresis, Characterization, Detection,
Fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Gas
chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID), Gas chromatography-mass
spectroscopy (GC-MS), MALDI-TOF-MS, Mass spectroscopy (MS), NMR spectroscopy,
PHA staining, Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), Quantification, Techniques,
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Wet scanning transmission
electron microscopy (wet STEM).
