Development of biodegradation process for Poly(DL-lactic acid) degradation by crude enzyme produced by Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1

Background: Plastic waste is a serious problem because it is difficult to degrade, thereby leading to global environment problems. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biodegradable aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, and it can be degraded by various enzymes produced by microorganisms. This study focused on the scale-up and evaluated the bioprocess of PLA degradation by a crude microbial enzyme produced by Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 in a 5 L stirred tank bioreactor. Results: PLA degradation after 72 h in a 5 L bioreactor by using the enzyme of the strain T16-1 under controlled pH conditions resulted in lactic acid titers (mg/L) of 16,651 mg/L and a conversion efficiency of 89% at a controlled pH of 8.0. However, the PLA degradation process inadvertently produced lactic acid as a potential inhibitor, as shown in our experiments at various concentrations of lactic acid. Therefore, the dialysis method was performed to reduce the concentration of lactic acid. The experiment with a dialysis bag achieved PLA degradation by weight loss of 99.93%, whereas the one without dialysis achieved a degradation of less than approximately 14.75%. Therefore, the dialysis method was applied to degrade a commercial PLA material (tray) with a conversion efficiency of 32%, which was 6-fold more than that without dialysis. Conclusions: This is the first report demonstrating the scale-up of PLA degradation in a 5 L bioreactor and evaluating a potential method for enhancing PLA degradation efficiency.

Poly(DL-lactide)-degrading enzyme production by immobilized Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 in a 5-L fermenter under various fermentation processes

Background: Poly(DL-lactic acid), or PDLLA, is a biodegradable polymer that can be hydrolyzed by various types of enzymes. The protease produced by Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 was previously reported to have PDLLA depolymerase activity. However, few studies have reported on PDLLA-degrading enzyme production by bacteria. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine a suitable immobilization material for PDLLA-degrading enzyme production and optimize PDLLA-degrading enzyme production by using immobilized A. keratinilytica strain T16-1 under various fermentation process conditions in a stirrer fermenter. Results: Among the tested immobilization materials, a scrub pad was the best immobilizer, giving an enzyme activity of 30.03 U/mL in a shake-flask scale. The maximum enzyme activity was obtained at aeration 0.25 vvm, agitation 170 rpm, 45°C, and 48 h of cultivation time. Under these conditions, a PDLLA-degrading enzyme production of 766.33 U/mL with 15.97 U/mL·h productivity was observed using batch fermentation in a 5-L stirrer fermenter. Increased enzyme activity and productivity were observed in repeated-batch (942.67 U/mL and 19.64 U/mL·h) and continuous fermentation (796.43 U/mL and 16.58 U/mL·h) at a dilution rate of 0.013/h. Scaled-up production of the enzyme in a 10-L stirrer bioreactor using the optimized conditions showed a maximum enzyme activity of 578.67 U/mL and a productivity of 12.06 U/mL·h. Conclusions: This research successfully scaled-up the enzyme production to 5 and 10 L in a stirrer fermenter and is helpful for many applications of poly(lactic acid).