Valorization of poultry feather waste into sustainable bioplastics: comparative analysis of keratin-based bioplastics with corn and potato starch | [International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology • 2025]

Author(s):

1. Ayisha Aman Ullah: Department of Biotechnology, Jinnah University for Women,Karachi,Pakistan

2. Suad Naheed: Department of Biochemistry, Jinnah University for Women,Karachi,Pakistan

3. Raheela Rahmat Zohra: Department of Biotechnology, University of Karachi,Karachi,Pakistan

4. Sakina Nisar: Department of Biotechnology, Jinnah University for Women,Karachi,Pakistan

5. Hafiza Kanwal: Department of Biotechnology, Jinnah University for Women,Karachi,Pakistan

6. Owais Ahmed: Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology University,Karachi,Pakistan

Abstract:

The feather waste released by poultry industry is serious environmental concern globally. Conventional approaches to dispose poultry waste cause extreme damage to environment. There by, bioconversion of feather waste in to useful products is sustainable strategy that allows the proper disposal of waste along with fabrication of eco-friendly biomaterials for commercial applications. In current study, keratin was extracted from chicken feather waste through alkali treatment. The estimated keratin yield was recorded to be 42.21% using 10 g feathers (w/w) with 0.11mg/ml total protein content. After that, extracted keratin was utilized for the development of bio plastic films in combination with corn and potato starches individually. The comparative study on the properties of developed keratin based bio-plastic films blended with corn and potato starch was done. The moisture content of keratin-corn starch bioplastic film was 5.90% while keratin-potato starch bioplastic film possessed 8.99% moisture content. The transparency of bioplastic films was reduced as the concentration of keratin was increased. The keratin-corn starch bioplastic has low solubility (23.89%) as compared to keratin-potato starch bioplastic (29.88%). On the other hand, the different blends of bioplastic films approximately reduced 40% of original dry weight after 12 days of soil burial. SEM analysis indicated an improvement in the structure of bioplastic film on the basis of smoothness, rigidity and porosity with increased concentration of keratin. According to the results of this work, keratin-corn starch bioplastic film has more desirable attributes for commercial applications as compared to keratin-potato starch based bioplastic.

Page(s): 243-253

DOI: DOI not available

Published: Journal: International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology, Volume: 22, Issue: 2, Year: 2025

Keywords:

poultry , Keratin , poultry , Bioplastic , Feathers , Corn Starch , potato starch

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