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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1491333
This article is part of the Research Topic Ensuring Food Safety and Quality in Sustainable Emerging Production Methods View all 4 articles

Bioconversion of bread waste into high-quality proteins and biopolymers by fermentation of archaea Haloferax mediterranei

Provisionally accepted
Razan Unis Razan Unis *Rima Gnaim Rima Gnaim Mrinal Kashyap Mrinal Kashyap Olga Shamis Olga Shamis Nabeel Gnayem Nabeel Gnayem Michael Gozin Michael Gozin Alexander Liberzon Alexander Liberzon Jallal Gnaim Jallal Gnaim Alexander Golberg Alexander Golberg
  • Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The valorization of bread waste into high-quality protein and biopolymers using the halophilic microorganism Haloferax mediterranei presents a sustainable approach to food waste management and resource optimization. This study successfully coproduced protein and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) biopolymer with a biomass content of 8.0 ± 0.1 g L⁻¹ and a productivity of 11.1 mg L⁻¹ h⁻¹. The fermentation process employed 3.0% w/v of enzymatically hydrolyzed bread waste. The amino acid profile of the cell biomass revealed a total content of 358 g kg⁻¹ of biomass dry weight (DW), including 147 g kg⁻¹ DW of essential amino acids. The protein quality, assessed through in-vitro enzyme digestion, indicated a high-quality protein with a digestibility value of 0.91 and a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) of 0.78. The PHBV biopolymer component (36.0 ± 6.3% w/w) consisted of a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate in a 91:9 mol% ratio. This bioconversion process not only mitigates food waste but also generates valuable biomaterials.

    Keywords: Microbial Fermentation, Haloferax mediterranei, Bread waste, biopolymer, poly(3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)

    Received: 04 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Unis, Gnaim, Kashyap, Shamis, Gnayem, Gozin, Liberzon, Gnaim and Golberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Razan Unis, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.