Potential of Carica papaya Waste for the Production of Alginic Acid by Fermentation

Abstract

The commercially available alginic acid is mainly extracted from sea weeds. Owing to the growing demand and variation in composition of alginate extracted from different species, there is rising interest in synthesis of alginate by bacteria. Therefore, present research was designed with the aim to check the potential of different papaya wastes like peels, seeds and decayed pulp for alginate production by Azotobacter vinelandii. Optimization of physico-chemical parameters was also done. Highest amount of the biopolymer was reported on fermentation of papaya peel at 72 hours of incubation period with inoculum size of 6% (v/v), at pH 7.0, 300C and agitation intensity of 200 rpm. Among different carbon and nitrogen sources tested, sucrose and peptone increased the yield of biopolymer (5.34 g/L). Alginate obtained was 98% pure in comparison to the standard. The present research is the first report on utilization of cheap papaya waste for alginate production and will be helpful to save the foreign exchange.