Fermentative α-Humulene Production from Homogenized Grass Clippings as a Growth Medium

Abstract

Green waste, e.g., grass clippings, is currently insufficiently recycled and has untapped potential as a valuable resource. Our aim was to use juice from grass clippings as a growth medium for microorganisms. Herein, we demonstrate the production of the sesquiterpene α-humulene with the versatile organism Cupriavidus necator pKR-hum on a growth medium from grass clippings. The medium was compared with established media in terms of microbial growth and terpene production. C. necator pKR-hum shows a maximum growth rate of 0.43 h−1 in the grass medium and 0.50 h−1 in a lysogeny broth (LB) medium. With the grass medium, 2 mg/L of α-humulene were produced compared to 10 mg/L with the LB medium. By concentrating the grass medium and using a controlled bioreactor in combination with an optimized in situ product removal, comparable product concentrations could likely be achieved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that juice from grass clippings has been used as a growth medium without any further additives for microbial product synthesis. This use of green waste as a material represents a new bioeconomic utilization option of waste materials and could contribute to improving the economics of grass biorefineries.