Extraction of Fungal Chitosan by Leveraging Pineapple Peel Substrate for Sustainable Biopolymer Production
agro-waste; biopolymer production; food packaging; fungal chitosan; pineapple peel waste
The cost-effective production of commercially important biopolymers, such as chitosan, has gained momentum in recent decades owing to its versatile material properties. The seasonal variability in the availability of crustacean waste and fish waste, routinely used for chitosan extraction, has triggered a focus on fungal chitosan as a sustainable alternative. This study demonstrates a cost-effective strategy for cultivating an endophytic fungus isolated from Pichavaram mangrove soil in a pineapple peel-based medium for harvesting fungal biomass. Chitosan was extracted using alkali and acid treatment methods from various combinations of media. The highest chitosan yield (139 0.25 mg/L) was obtained from the pineapple peel waste-derived medium supplemented with peptone. The extracted polymer was characterized by FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TGA analysis. The antioxidant activity of the fungal chitosan was evaluated using DPPH assay and showed an IC50 value of 0.22 mg/L. Subsequently, a transparent chitosan film was fabricated using the extracted fungal chitosan, and its biodegradability was assessed using a soil burial test for 50 days. Biodegradation tests revealed that, after 50 days, a degradation rate of 28.92 0.75% (w/w) was recorded. Thus, this study emphasizes a cost-effective strategy for the production of biopolymers with significant antioxidant activity, which may have promising applications in food packaging if additional investigations are carried out in the future. 2024 by the authors.
Davis D.; Umesh M.; Santhosh A.S.; Suresh S.; Shanmugam S.; Kikas T.
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16172455 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85203853417&doi=10.3390%2fpolym16172455&partnerID=40&md5=1ecd644f24d1b81c216899e9129367c5
Davis D., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Umesh M., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Santhosh A.S., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Suresh S., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Shanmugam S., Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, Tartu, 51014, Estonia; Kikas T., Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, Tartu, 51014, Estonia