Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Bioconversion of chicken feather waste into feather hydrolysate by multifaceted keratinolytic Bacillus tropicus LS27 and new insights into its antioxidant and plant growth-promoting properties

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Keratin, the main structural constituent of feathers, contains a lot of valuable amino acids which are potential bioactive compounds as well. Since conventional methods are not efficient enough to achieve complete removal of chicken feather waste, biological mode of feather degradation is one of the most appropriate ways to utilize feathers, thereby reducing wastes as well as generating value-added products from feathers. This study was focussed on valorizing chicken feather into feather hydrolysate (FH) containing bioactive compounds for plant growth promotion. Keratinolytic bacteria capable of degrading chicken feathers were isolated from the poultry waste dumping site of Russell Market, Shivajinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The isolated bacteria was identified as Bacillus tropicus LS 27. A minimal media with chicken feather as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen was prepared and inoculated with Bacillus tropicus LS 27 [5% (v/v)]. Degradation of keratin protein by bacteria caused the solubilization of amino acids which was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis where an appreciable amount of amino acids like cysteine, valine, isoleucine, proline, lysine, methionine, and phenylalanine was detected. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of hydrolysed chicken feathers showed C=0 stretching, S-H bond stretching, and formation of carboxylic acid groups indicating effective degradation of chicken feathers. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed the degradation pattern of feathers showing complete degradation of barbs and barbules with a portion of rachis remaining. Feather hydrolysate was further explored for its antioxidant activity using DPPH scavenging assay, and the value was found to be 1.5 mg/mL. The bacterial cells when screened for heavy metal tolerance showed significant metal tolerance to lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr). Since Bacillus tropicus LS27 showed indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, and ammonia production, the prepared feather hydrolysate along with the bacterial cells were used as soil amendment for plant growth studies over Spinacia oleracea L. The study revealed that plants supplemented with 20% (v/v) FH showed elevated plant growth, therefore proving to be optimum for the support of plant growth.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The original data related to this research work will be available on special request to the authors.

References

  1. Singh R (2019) Status of poultry production in india – Pashudhan praharee. In: Pashudhan Prahree. https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/status-of-poultry-production-in-india/. Accessed 8 Apr 2023

  2. FAO (2020) World food and agriculture—statistical yearbook 2020. World Food and Agriculture-Statistical Yearbook

    Google Scholar 

  3. Poultry meat consumption worldwide 2021-2031. In: Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/739951/poultry-meat-consumption-worldwide/. Accessed 7 Apr 2023

  4. Tesfaye T, Sithole B, Ramjugernath D, Chunilall V (2017) Valorisation of chicken feathers: characterisation of chemical properties. Waste Manag 68:626–635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.06.050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Tamreihao K, Mukherjee S, Khunjamayum R, Devi LJ, Asem RS, Ningthoujam DS (2019) Feather degradation by keratinolytic bacteria and biofertilizing potential for sustainable agricultural production. J Basic Microbiol 59:4–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/jobm.201800434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ramalingum N, Bhagwat P, Permaul K, Pillai S (2022) Production, characterization, and application of Pseudomonas aeruginosa S-04 keratinase for feather utilization. Biomass Convers Biorefin

  7. Sharma R, Devi S (2018) Versatility and commercial status of microbial keratinases: a review. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 17:19–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-017-9454-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Embaby AM, Marey HS, Hussein A (2015) A statistical-mathematical model to optimize chicken feather waste bioconversion via Bacillus licheniformis SHG10: a low cost effective and ecologically safe approach. J Bioprocess Biotech 5:1

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cheong CW, Lee YS, Ahmad SA, Ooi PT, Phang LY (2018) Chicken feather valorization by thermal alkaline pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis for protein-rich hydrolysate production. Waste Manag 79:658–666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.08.029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nnolim NE, Udenigwe CC, Okoh AI, Nwodo UU (2020) Microbial Keratinase: next generation green catalyst and prospective applications. Front Microbiol 11:580164. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.580164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nnolim NE, Okoh AI, Nwodo UU (2020) Proteolytic bacteria isolated from agro-waste dumpsites produced keratinolytic enzymes. Biotechnol Rep (Amst) 27:e00483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2020.e00483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Gupta R, Ramnani P (2006) Microbial keratinases and their prospective applications: an overview. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 70:21–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-005-0239-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Adelere IA, Lateef A (2023) Valorization of feather by Bacillus safensis and Aquamicrobium defluvii for growth promotion in leafy vegetables. Waste Biomass Valoriz 14:723–737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-022-01904-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sun Z, Li X, Liu K, Chi X, Liu L (2021) Optimization for production of a plant growth promoting agent from the degradation of chicken feather using keratinase producing novel isolate Bacillus pumilus JYL. Waste Biomass Valoriz 12:1943–1954. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-01138-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kaur M, Bhari R, Singh RS (2021) Chicken feather waste-derived protein hydrolysate as a potential biostimulant for cultivation of mung beans. Biologia 76:1807–1815. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-021-00724-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Näsholm T, Kielland K, Ganeteg U (2009) Uptake of organic nitrogen by plants. New Phytol 182:31–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02751.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Khan S, Yu H, Li Q, Gao Y, Sallam BN, Wang H, Liu P, Jiang W (2019) Exogenous application of amino acids improves the growth and yield of lettuce by enhancing photosynthetic assimilation and nutrient availability. Agronomy 9:266. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9050266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Liya SM, Umesh M, Nag A, Chinnathambi A, Alharbi SA, Jhanani GK, Shanmugam S, Brindhadevi K (2023) Optimized production of keratinolytic proteases from Bacillus tropicus LS27 and its application as a sustainable alternative for dehairing, destaining and metal recovery. Environ Res 221:115283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kshetri P, Roy SS, Sharma SK, Singh TS, Ansari MA, Prakash N, Ngachan SV (2019) Transforming chicken feather waste into feather protein hydrolysate using a newly isolated multifaceted keratinolytic bacterium Chryseobacterium sediminis RCM-SSR-7. Waste Biomass Valoriz 10:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Khumalo M, Sithole B, Tesfaye T (2020) Valorisation of waste chicken feathers: Optimisation of keratin extraction from waste chicken feathers by sodium bisulphite, sodium dodecyl sulphate and urea. J Environ Manage 262:110329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ma O, Ogundiran MA (2019) Preliminary assessment of water spinach ( Ipomoea Aquatica) and morning glory (Ipomoea Asarifolia) leaves meals as non - conventional fish feed stuffs. Int J Zool Anim Biol 2:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Cataldo DA, Maroon M, Schrader LE (1975) Rapid colorimetric determination of nitrate in plant tissue by nitration of salicylic acid. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal

  23. Hseu Z-Y (2004) Evaluating heavy metal contents in nine composts using four digestion methods. Bioresour Technol 95:53–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.02.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Shamshad J, Najeeb J, Naeem M, Chaudhry MN (2017) Simultaneous atomic absorption spectroscopic quantization survey of toxic metals in poultry feed and their translocation in various tissues of chicken in Lahore region of Pakistan. Int J Sci Eng Res 8:791–796

    Google Scholar 

  25. Chaturvedi V, Bhange K, Bhatt R, Verma P (2014) Production of kertinases using chicken feathers as substrate by a novel multifunctional strain of Pseudomonas stutzeri and its dehairing application. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol 3:167–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2013.08.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Stiborova H, Branska B, Vesela T, Lovecka P, Stranska M, Hajslova J, Jiru M, Patakova P, Demnerova K (2016) Transformation of raw feather waste into digestible peptides and amino acids. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 91:1629–1637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Alahyaribeik S, Sharifi SD, Tabandeh F, Honarbakhsh S, Ghazanfari S (2021) Stability and cytotoxicity of DPPH inhibitory peptides derived from biodegradation of chicken feather. Protein Expr Purif 177:105748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2020.105748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Rizvi A, Ahmed B, Zaidi A, Khan MS (2020) Biosorption of heavy metals by dry biomass of metal tolerant bacterial biosorbents: an efficient metal clean-up strategy. Environ Monit Assess 192:801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08758-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. James N, Umesh M, Sarojini S, Shanmugam S, Nasif O, Alharbi SA, Chi NTL, Brindhadevi K (2023) Unravelling the potential plant growth activity of halotolerant Bacillus licheniformis NJ04 isolated from soil and its possible use as a green bioinoculant on Solanum lycopersicum L. Environ Res 216:114620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Patel VK, Vikram B, Sikarwar PS, Sengupta J (2021) Effect of different levels of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth and yield of spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) cv. all green. J Pharmacogn Phytochem 10:2229–2231

    Google Scholar 

  31. Adelina A, Feliatra F, Siregar YI, Suharman I, Pamukas NA (2019) Fermented chicken feathers using Bacillus subtilis to improve the quality of nutrition as a fish feed material. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci 348:012008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/348/1/012008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Elemile OO, Akpor BO, Ibitogbe EM, Afolabi YT, Ajani DO (2022) Adsorption isotherm and kinetics for the removal of nitrate from wastewater using chicken feather fiber. Cogent Eng 9:2043227. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2022.2043227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Windt X, Scott EL, Seeger T, Schneider O, Asadi Tashvigh A, Bitter JH (2022) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for assessing structural and enzymatic reactivity changes induced during feather hydrolysis. ACS Omega 7:39924–39930. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c04216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Sharma I, Pranaw K, Soni H, Rawat HK, Kango N (2022) Parametrically optimized feather degradation by Bacillus velezensis NCIM 5802 and delineation of keratin hydrolysis by multi-scale analysis for poultry waste management. Sci Rep 12:17118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21351-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Poole AJ, Lyons RE, Church JS (2011) Dissolving feather keratin using sodium sulfide for bio-polymer applications. J Polym Environ 19:995–1004. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-011-0365-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Paul T, Das A, Mandal A, Halder SK, DasMohapatra PK, Pati BR, Mondal KC (2014) Valorization of chicken feather waste for concomitant production of keratinase, oligopeptides and essential amino acids under submerged fermentation by Paenibacillus woosongensis TKB2. Waste Biomass Valoriz 5:575–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-013-9267-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Jagadeesan Y, Meenakshisundaram S, Saravanan V, Balaiah A (2022) Greener and sustainable biovalorization of poultry waste into peptone via bacto-enzymatic digestion: a breakthrough chemical-free bioeconomy waste management approach. Waste Biomass Valoriz 13:3197–3219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-022-01713-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Alahyaribeik S, Sharifi SD, Tabandeh F, Honarbakhsh S, Ghazanfari S (2020) Bioconversion of chicken feather wastes by keratinolytic bacteria. Process Saf Environ Prot 135:171–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2020.01.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Vasileva-Tonkova E, Gousterova A, Neshev G (2009) Ecologically safe method for improved feather wastes biodegradation. Int Biodeterior Biodegradation 63:1008–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2009.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Ben Hamad Bouhamed S, Krichen F, Kechaou N (2018) Feather protein hydrolysates: a study of physicochemical, functional properties and antioxidant activity. Waste Biomass Valoriz 11:51–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0451-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Wan M-Y, Dong G, Yang B-Q, Feng H (2016) Identification and characterization of a novel antioxidant peptide from feather keratin hydrolysate. Biotechnol Lett 38:643–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-2016-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Prajapati S, Koirala S, Anal AK (2021) Bioutilization of chicken feather waste by newly isolated keratinolytic bacteria and conversion into protein hydrolysates with improved functionalities. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 193:2497–2515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03554-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. El-Meihy RM, Abou-Aly HE, Youssef AM, Tewfike TA, El-Alkshar EA (2019) Efficiency of heavy metals-tolerant plant growth promoting bacteria for alleviating heavy metals toxicity on sorghum. Environ Exp Bot 162:295–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Efe D (2020) Potential plant growth-promoting bacteria with heavy metal resistance. Curr Microbiol 77:3861–3868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02208-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Saha J, Adhikary S, Pal A (2022) Analyses of the heavy metal resistance pattern and biosorption potential of an indigenous Bacillus tropicus strain isolated from arable soil. Geomicrobiol J 39:891–905. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2022.2089781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Bhange K, Chaturvedi V, Bhatt R (2016) Ameliorating effects of chicken feathers in plant growth promotion activity by a keratinolytic strain of Bacillus subtilis PF1. Bioresourc Bioprocess 3:13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-016-0091-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Jeong J-H, Jeon Y-D, Lee O-M, Kim J-D, Lee N-R, Park G-T, Son H-J (2010) Characterization of a multifunctional feather-degrading Bacillus subtilis isolated from forest soil. Biodegradation 21:1029–1040. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-010-9363-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Mohd Azim Khan NA, Jaya Jothi S, Mohd Hata E, Parimannan S, Vadamalai G, Rajandas H (2022) Draft genome sequence of Bacillus tropicus strain UPM-CREST01, isolated from the bulk paddy soil at Kampung Gajah, Perak. Microbiol Resour Announc 11:e0115621. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.01156-21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Nurdiawati A, Suherman C, Maxiselly Y, Akbar MA, Purwoko BA, Prawisudha P, Yoshikawa K (2019) Liquid feather protein hydrolysate as a potential fertilizer to increase growth and yield of patchouli (Pogostemon cablin Benth) and mung bean (Vigna radiata). Int J Recycl Org Waste Agric 8:221–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-019-0245-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Paul T, Halder SK, Das A, Bera S, Maity C, Mandal A, Das PS, Das Mohapatra PK, Pati BR, Mondal KC (2012) Exploitation of chicken feather waste as a plant growth promoting agent using keratinase producing novel isolate Paenibacillus woosongensis TKB2. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol 2:50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2012.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Gurav R, Nalavade V, Aware C, Vyavahare G, Bhatia SK, Yang Y-H, Bapat V, Jadhav J (2020) Microbial degradation of poultry feather biomass in a constructed bioreactor and application of hydrolysate as bioenhancer to vegetable crops. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 27:2027–2035. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06536-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Centre for Research on Molecular and Applied Sciences, Trivandrum, Kerala, India; Athmic Biotech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Trivandrum, Kerala, India; and Nanotechnology Lab, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur, Bangalore, Karnataka, for providing facilities for HPLC, proximate, and SEM analyses, respectively.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560029, India

    Stanly Merin Liya & Mridul Umesh

Authors
  1. Stanly Merin Liya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mridul Umesh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Stanly Merin Liya: execution of lab works, manuscript preparation, and editing

Mridul Umesh: conceptualization, research supervision, and editing

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mridul Umesh.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This research work does not involve the use of any human and/ or animal studies, and thus, ethical approval is not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liya, S.M., Umesh, M. Bioconversion of chicken feather waste into feather hydrolysate by multifaceted keratinolytic Bacillus tropicus LS27 and new insights into its antioxidant and plant growth-promoting properties. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04664-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04664-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation