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Abstract
La producción y acumulación de plásticos convencionales generan impactos ambientales significativos, lo que ha impulsado la búsqueda de alternativas sostenibles. En este contexto, los bioplásticos como los polihidroxialcanoatos (PHA) destacan como por sus características biodegradables y biocompatibles, los cuales pueden ser producidos biológicamente; sin embargo, su aplicación a gran escala se ve limitada por los elevados costos de producción, principalmente asociados a la fuente de carbono, la limitación en la relación C/N y a los metabolismos implicados en la producción de la acumulación de C en forma de PHA. El aprovechamiento de subproductos industriales, como el suero lácteo, ha sido explorado como una estrategia para reducir costos y mejorar la sostenibilidad del proceso. No obstante, la valorización eficiente del suero para la producción de PHA enfrenta desafíos relacionados con su pretratamiento y la selección de cepas productoras. Esta revisión sintetiza el estado actual del conocimiento sobre el uso del suero en la producción de PHA y discute estrategias para superar las limitaciones técnicas existentes.
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