AUTHOR=Tao Xue , Liu Shiqi , Lv Longyi , Sun Li , Zhang Guangming , Liang Jinsong , Zou Wenxiu 

TITLE=Recent advances in polyhydroxyalkanoate production from volatile fatty acids derived from food waste fermentation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1693596

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2025.1693596

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are promising green substitutes for traditional plastics, offering good biodegradability and biocompatibility. PHA production using volatile fatty acids (VFAs) obtained from food waste fermentation not only provides a new way to utilize food waste resources but also reduces the PHA production cost. However, a review of mechanisms, technical processes, key influencing factors, and techno-economic analysis of food waste-VFAs-PHA production is lacking. Thus, this review elucidates the microorganisms that synthesize PHA and their associated metabolic pathways. A technical process of food waste-VFAs-PHA generation was proposed. Research status in this field was summarized. Meanwhile, the influencing factors of PHA synthesis based on VFAs were discussed. Additionally, techno-economic and environmental analyses of the food waste-VFAs-PHA process were covered. Finally, the challenges and prospects of future work were proposed. This review provides new ideas and theoretical guidance for achieving industrial production of low-cost PHA and the value-added transformation of food waste.