Atmospheric cold plasma-assisted pineapple peel waste hydrolysate detoxification for the production of bacterial cellulose

Toxic compounds in pineapple peel waste hydrolysate (PPWH), namely formic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and furfural, are the major predicament in its utilization as a carbon source for bacterial cellulose (BC) fermentation. A rapid detoxification procedures using atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) technique were employed to reduce the toxic compounds. ACP treatment allows the breakdown of toxic compounds without causing excessive breakdown of sugars. Herein, the performance of two available laboratory ACP reactors for PPWH detoxification was being demonstrated. ACP-reactor-1 (R1) runs on plasma power of 80-200Wwith argon (Ar) plasma source, while ACP-reactor-2 (R2) runs at 500-600Wwith air plasma source. Treatment in R1, at 200Wfor 15min, results in 74.06%, 51.38%, and 21.81% reduction of furfural, HMF, and formic acid. Treatment in R2 at 600Wgives 45.05%, 32.59%, and 60.41% reductions of furfural, HMF, and formic acid. The BC yield from the fermentation of Komagateibacter xylinus in the R1-treated PPWH, R2-treated PPWH, and untreated-PPWH is 2.82, 3.82, and 2.97 g/L, respectively. The results show that ACP treatment provides a novel detoxified strategy in achieving agricultural waste hydrolysate reuse in fermentation. Furthermore, the results also imply that untreated PPWH can be an inexpensive and sustainable resource for fermentation media supplementation. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study utilized atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) technique for rapid detoxification of toxic compounds in pineapple peel waste hydrolysate (PPWH), allowing for increased bacterial cellulose (BC) yield in fermentation. The results suggest that ACP treatment provides a novel strategy for utilizing agricultural waste hydrolysate in fermentation and untreated PPWH can be a cost-effective and sustainable resource for fermentation media supplementation.