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ABSTRACT
The use of petroleum based plastics for coating poses the threat of non-biodegradability to the paper based packaging materials which are otherwise fully biodegradable. The microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) which are biodegradable and biocompatible will help to improve the properties of paper in an eco-friendly manner. The problems with PHA production are less yield and high cost of substrate for the growth of microorganisms. This can be solved by the use of wastes as substrates including food waste, agricultural waste, sewage water etc. The studies on production of PHA from food and agricultural wastes and reports on the coating of paper using PHA are discussed in this article.

Keywords: Paper, Polyhydroxyalkanoate, Packaging, Coating

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Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates from food and agricultural wastes _compressed.pdf