Feather Waste biodegradation as a source of Amino acids

Feathers are composed of beta keratin protein. A Bacillus strain SAA5 has been isolated from feather dumping site and used for evaluating the keratin substrate as a source of amino acids along with the production of alkaline protease. Fermentation using feather as a substrate was carried out on minimal salt media for 7 days which resulted in almost complete degradation of feather. The optimum conditions for keratinase production were temperature 30°C, pH 8.5 and initial substrate concentration 1%. An increase in the pH of medium was also reported during the period of fermentation. Rates of feather degradation and enzyme production maximized during the logarithmic phase of growth. Maximum enzyme activity was found to be 6.5 IU/ml on fifth day. Concentrations of total amino acids, cysteine, serine, and methionine were continuously monitored in the fermentation broth and reached to a maximum of 1.2mg/ml, 46μg/ml, 107μg/ml and 17.52μg/ml respectively.