Enhanced stability of immobilized keratinolytic protease on electrospun nanofibers

Abstract

Feathers from poultry industries are considered a major pollutant and its degradation is a challenging problem due to its recalcitrant nature. The high cost of energy and loss of essential amino acids by conventional methods have paved a way for an environmentally benign approach using microbial keratinolytic proteases. The widespread application of keratinolytic proteases is limited due to autolysis and denaturation of the enzyme upon storage. Immobilization overcomes these disadvantages by adsorbing the enzyme onto a solid support. Recently, electrospun nanofibers have been used due to their increased surface area and porous structure. The biocompatible and hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been blended with biodegradable chitosan for immobilization in electrospinning. The present study focuses on feather degradation by immobilized keratinolytic proteases on electrospun nanofibers. The keratinolytic protease production was enhanced by using a media containing hydrolyzed feather under optimized conditions. The immobilized keratinolytic protease on electrospun PVA chitosan (PVA-Ch) nanofibers (100–150 nm diameter) degraded the chicken feathers with 88% efficiency at the end of 72 hr.

Keywords:

• Bacillus amyloliquefaciens
• electrospinning
• feather degradation
• keratin
• PVA-chitosan nanofiber

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

MS thanks Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India [BT/PR5106/BRB/10/1073/2012]. ND thanks University Grants Commission (UGC) for CSIR/UGC-NET fellowship. Dr. PG thanks DBT and Department of Science and Technology (DST) for continuous support and funding.