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The inappropriate disposal of synthetic plastics has led to severe environmental health hazards. In order to combat these persistent issues, the synthesis of biodegradable polymers has been gaining interest recently. In the current study, an attempt was done to optimize the production of Polyhydroxyalkaonoates (PHA) by Azotobacter fabrum by adjusting various physicochemical conditions during the growth of the bacterium. The parameters optimized in our study were temperature, pH, aeration conditions, incubation period and carbon to nitrogen ratio. It was observed that A. fabrum produced maximum PHA at pH 7 and temperature 30°C in 48h. The most favoured carbon and nitrogen sources for PHA production were glucose and ammonium nitrate respectively, and the optimum C: N ratio was observed to be 50:1. On optimization approximately 33.02% increase in productivity was observed.

Keywords: Azotobacter fabrum, Polyhydroxyalkaonoates, Optimization, Biodegradable polymer.