A mini-review on polyhydroxyalkanoates: Synthesis, extraction, characterization, and applications

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are thermoplastic biopolyester with high biodegradability and biocompatibility. This review explores the potential of PHAs as promising alternatives to conventional petrochemical plastics, offering a solution to reduce plastic pollution. The strategic selection of conditions, including type of microorganism, carbon substrates and extraction methods, enables the effective PHAs production for maximum yield and cost-effectiveness. Recent advancements in characterization techniques, each with its own advantages and limitations, are explored to offer insights into PHA concentration, composition, and purity. This review highlights the versatility of PHAs in various applications, focusing on medicine, environmental remediation, industrial processes, and agriculture, where they can offer significant environmental benefits by replacing non-biodegradable materials. Despite production cost challenges, PHAs demonstrate promise for sustainable polymer development. This review contributes to advancing PHAs as a viable solution for eco-friendly applications across diverse industries. •Diverse cultivation and extraction strategies were explored to optimize PHAs production.•Characterization methods for PHAs include microscopy, spectroscopy, and chromatography.•PHAs are versatile and sustainable alternatives used in medicine, environmental remeidation, industry and agriculture.