Production of poultry feather hydrolysate using HCl and NaOH as a growth medium substrate for indigenous strains

The poultry feathers have a very high protein content due to it consists of 90% of crude protein, and it is an ideal material to obtain keratin protein. Due to Keratin’s difficulties and time-consuming decomposition, further processing is needed to degrade Keratin into simpler proteins that can be used as an alternative N-source. This study was aimed to evaluate the keratin hydrolysate from poultry feathers prepared by acidic (HCl) and alkaline (NaOH) compound utilization and its potency as the substrate medium for growth keratinolytic bacteria at a laboratory scale. Poultry feathers, including kampung (local breed) chicken feathers, layer chicken feathers, and local goose treat with HCL 12% and NaOH 20%. The results of the hydrolysate of poultry feathers using 12% HCl showed no significant changes. Visually, the feathers of birds that have been treated with 12% HCl show a colour change to brownish-yellow. The results of hydrolysis using NaOH showed better results than HCl for producing feather meals. The highest yield has occurred at local goose feathers at 95.7%, followed by Kampung and Layer chicken feathers at 93.17% and 78,75%. Based on the viability test, three indigenous strains (Bacillus cereus TD5B, B. cereus LS2B and Pseudomonas sp. PK4) grew in a medium with a substrate of kampung chicken feathers, layer chickens, and local goose feathers. It can be concluded that the hydrolysed poultry feathers made by NaOH 20% preparation had a potency as N-source in the bacterial growth medium.

Sustainable bioproducts through thermoplastic processing of wheat gluten and its blends

Proteins are unique biopolymers extensively used for food and non-food applications. In addition to animal proteins such as poultry feathers that are generated as byproducts, plant proteins such as wheat gluten and soy proteins are also available in large quantities at reasonable cost. Since proteins are inherently non-thermoplastic, they cannot generally be processed by thermal treatments. Further, most proteins do not dissolve in common solvents either. Hence, most of the non-food applications of plant proteins require extensive chemical and physical modifications which increases cost and also reduces the biodegradability of the products developed. However, studies have shown that proteins including wheat gluten and keratin can become thermoplastic under specific conditions, when adequate pressure, heat and moisture are applied. Similarly, proteins can be made thermoplastic after physical or chemical modifications or by using plasticizers and compatibilizers. Based on such modifications, completely biodegradable composites with proteins as matrix and natural fibers as reinforcement and even all protein composites have been developed. Proteins as matrix offer new avenues to obtain sustainable, green composites with unique properties. Wheat gluten is a novel protein that has many distinct properties and characteristic behavior. Wheat gluten has been used for several non-food applications mostly by dissolving and solution casting which is a cumbersome process and restricted to only a few types of materials that can be developed. Alternatively, wheat gluten has been made thermoplastic using chemical, physical modifications or a combination of both. Several organic and inorganic additives, crosslinkers and plasticizers have also been added to ensure thermoplastic processing of wheat gluten and to obtain products with properties suitable for commodity applications. In this review, we discuss the processes and possibility of converting wheat proteins into thermoplastic products and as matrix for composites and the properties and applications of the wheat gluten based thermoplastics.

One-Pot Process: Microwave-Assisted Keratin Extraction and Direct Electrospinning to Obtain Keratin-Based Bioplastic

Poultry feathers are among the most abundant and polluting keratin-rich waste biomasses. In this work, we developed a one-pot microwave-assisted process for eco-friendly keratin extraction from poultry feathers followed by a direct electrospinning (ES) of the raw extract, without further purification, to obtain keratin-based bioplastics. This microwave-assisted keratin extraction (MAE) was conducted in acetic acid 70% v/v. The effects of extraction time, solvent/feathers ratio, and heating mode (MAE vs conventional heating) on the extraction yield were investigated. The highest keratin yield (26 ± 1% w/w with respect to initial feathers) was obtained after 5 h of MAE. Waste-derived keratin were blended with gelatin to fabricate keratin-based biodegradable and biocompatible bioplastics via ES, using 3-(Glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as a cross-linking agent. A full characterization of their thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties was performed by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, uniaxial tensile tests, and water permeability measurements. Their morphology and protein structure were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and attenuated total reflection-infrared spectroscopy. All these characterizations highlighted that the properties of the keratin-based bioplastics can be modulated by changing keratin and GPTMS concentrations. These bioplastics could be applied in areas such as bio-packaging and filtration/purification membranes.

Determining a wide range of and pesticides in poultry feathers using selective accelerated solvent extraction–liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

This study established a detection method based on accelerated solvent extraction–liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for determining residues of three amphenicols, eight macrolides, 18 sulfonamides, four nitroimidazoles, 15 insecticides, and 22 fungicides...