One-Pot Bioconversion of Tomato Waste into Poly-gamma-glutamic Acid (γ-PGA) Biopolymer by a Novel Biocatalyst
Pranav G. Nair, Emmanuel Joseph, Naresh Killi, Sravanya Konchada, Anuya Nisal, G. V. N. Rathna, Mahesh Dharne
Abstract
Landfilling of rotten tomatoes can lead to environmental instability and a huge economic loss to the producers. This letter reports an effective valorization of tomato waste into a promising biopolymer, i.e., poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) by a novel biocatalyst Bacillus paralicheniformis NCIM 5769. The γ-PGA is one of the most expensive biopolymers with multifarious applications in wound healing, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine fields. However, its adoption into various applications is finite due to its exorbitant production cost. Herein, rotten tomatoes (without additional nutrient supplementation) served as the chassis for the fermentative production of 40 g/L of highly pure γ-PGA within 48 h at ambient temperature. Further, NMR, DSC, and TGA confirmed the purity of synthesized γ-PGA identical to standard γ-PGA. This process has potential in the commercialization of γ-PGA by significantly reducing the production cost, followed by the effective utilization of tomato waste leading to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 (i.e., ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns).