Abstract

PRODUCTION OF BIOPLASTIC FROM SOIL BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM THE AGRICULTURAL LANDS OF DHARANIPUR TEA GARDEN

Diptendu Sarkar*, Promeet Halder, Sagnik Chattopadhyay, Monosij Jyoti, Rupak Patra, Krishi Prasad Gupta, Debarshi Das Adhikary, Soumya Halder and Atanu Saha

ABSTRACT

Plastic pollution in our modern day world has been a growing concern. The harmful effects of plastic are mainly because they are toxic to the ecosystem and are biodegradable. Accumulation of non-biodegradable plastic in ecosystem harms the wildlife. One of the main causes of pollution on both land and water is plastic. It can damage marine life in our rivers and oceans if improperly disposed of. It may also wind up in landfills, where its decomposition takes many years. Since petroleum is the raw material for plastic, its manufacture adds to deforestation. Greenhouse gases released during the manufacture of plastics contribute to climate change. To address such problems new alternate alternatives are being sought. Bioplastics produced by certain bacteria are being extensively researched in search of the alternatives. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a microbially bioprocessed polyester that is a member of the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family, is one of the most promising materials that is currently being produced and assessed. PHB has the potential to replace petrochemical-based polymers due to its superior mechanical qualities and biodegradability in specific active biological settings. PHB is generated by microbial secondary metabolism in the cells of microorganisms, primarily when the cells are under nutritional stress or in an unfavorable environment like an excessive carbon environment with limited nutrients, which can occur in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. When vital nutrient sources are unbalanced or reduced, microbes naturally accumulate the substance as a way to store carbon and energy. Ralstonia eutropha (also known as Cupriavidus necator), Alcaligenes spp., Azotobacter spp., Bacillus spp., Nocardia spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Rhizobium spp. are a few examples of the strains that have been widely examined and are used to create PHB. Due to its potential replacement of synthetic plastic, we have tried to isolate bacterial strains producing PHB and optimise PHB production. As part of our experiment, we separated soildwelling bacterial strains and tested them for PHB production. To find out which isolate produced more bioplastic, the PHB from the bacteria was separated, and the production yield was computed. The isolates' production was examined at both high and low temperatures, as well as at acidic and basic pH values. As a carbon source, production was also examined for various sugars.

Keywords: Nonbiodegradable, synthetic plastic, pollution, bioplastic, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), PHB production.