Abstract

The current study was aimed at the degradation of feather and hair wastes in an eco-friendly way, which should further be helpful to make the waste dumping soils fertile. Degradation of feathers and hair was assessed by a highly potent keratinophilic fungi namely Chrysosporium tropicum. The 60 day experiment was set up with sterile defatted feather and hair as substrates in a mineral medium along with the inoculum of the organism. The culture filtrate was analyzed at every 10 days interval, for the release of catabolic products such as protein and keratinase, along with the concomitant increase in pH. Maximum degradation was found at the 40th day sample, where the protein released was 6.9 mg/ml and the keratinolytic activity was 8.56 KU/ml. There was increase in pH (from neutral) towards alkalinity up to 40 days (9.0) of incubation and decline thereafter, indicating the maximum release of soluble protein into the medium. Among the two substrates used, C. tropicum had more effect on hair than that of feather.

Key words: Feather waste, hair waste, keratinophilic fungi, Chrysosporium tropicum.