Search Results (19)

Sericin, a natural glycoprotein constituting 20–30% of the silk cocoon, has emerged as a promising biomaterial due to its excellent biological properties, including biocompatibility, antioxidant properties and potential applications in regenerative medicine. The quality and the features of sericin are strongly dependent on the extraction and purification methods, which can employ mild conditions to preserve the molecular integrity of the protein or recovery techniques from waste streams produced during the industrial degumming processes. The silk industry prioritizes fiber yield over protein preservation, so often harsh alkaline conditions at high temperatures are adopted. These divergent approaches result in fundamentally different products with distinct molecular characteristics and functional capabilities. This review comprehensively examines the current technological approaches for sericin extraction techniques and for its recovery from textile industry waste, focusing on how these aspects affect the biological properties of the protein and the potential applications. Full article

In a world characterized by rapid industrialization and a growing population, plastic or polymeric waste handling has undergone significant transformations. Recycling has become a major strategy where silk sericin has great potential among recyclable polymers. This naturally occurring biopolymer is a sustainable and versatile material with a wide range of potential uses in biotechnology and sensing. Furthermore, preparing and studying new environmentally friendly functional polymers with attractive physicochemical properties can open new opportunities for developing next-generation materials and composites. Herein, we provide an overview of the advances in the research studies of silk sericin as a functional and eco-friendly material, considering its biocompatibility and unique physicochemical properties. The structure of silk sericin and the extraction procedures, considering the influence of preparation methods on its properties, are described. Sericin’s intrinsic properties, including its ability to crosslink with other polymers, its antioxidative capacity, and its biocompatibility, render it a versatile material for multifunctional applications across diverse fields. In biotechnology, the ability to blend sericin with other polymers enables the preparation of materials with varied morphologies, such as films and scaffolds, exhibiting enhanced mechanical strength and anti-inflammatory effects. This combination proves particularly advantageous in tissue engineering and wound healing. Furthermore, the augmentation of mechanical strength, coupled with the incorporation of plasticizers, makes sericin films suitable for the development of epidermal electrodes. Simultaneously, by precisely controlling hydration and permeability, the same material can be tailored for applications in packaging and the food industry. This work highlights the multidisciplinary and multifunctional nature of sericin, emphasizing its broad applicability. Full article

Synthetic and natural fibers are widely used in the textile industry. Natural fibers include cellulose-based materials like cotton, and regenerated fibers like viscose as well as protein-based fibers such as silk and wool. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, include PET and polyamides (like nylon). Due to significant differences in their chemistry, distinct dyeing processes are required, each generating specific waste. For example, cellulose fibers exhibit chemical inertness toward dyes, necessitating chemical auxiliaries that contribute to wastewater contamination, whereas synthetic fibers are a major source of non-biodegradable microplastic emissions. Addressing the environmental impact of fiber processing requires a deep molecular-level understanding to enable informed decision-making. This manuscript emphasizes potential solutions, particularly through the biodegradation of textile materials and related chemical waste, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, which promotes clean water and sanitation. For instance, cost-effective methods using enzymes or microbes can aid in processing the fibers and their associated dyeing solutions while also addressing textile wastewater, which contains high concentrations of unreacted dyes, salts, and other highly water-soluble pollutants. This paper covers different aspects of fiber chemistry, dyeing, degradation mechanisms, and the chemical waste produced by the textile industry, while highlighting microbial-based strategies for waste mitigation. The integration of microbes not only offers a solution for managing large volumes of textile waste but also paves the way for sustainable technologies. Full article

The various wastes generated by silkworm silk textiles that are no longer in use are increasing, which is causing considerable waste and contamination. This issue has attracted widespread attention in countries that use a lot of silk. Therefore, enhancing the mechanical properties of regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) and enriching the function of silk are important directions to expand the comprehensive utilization of silk products. In this paper, the preparation of RSF/Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) hybrid fiber with different Al₂O₃ NPs contents by wet spinning and its novel performance are reported. It was found that the RSF/Al₂O₃ NPs hybrid fiber was a multifunctional fiber material with thermal insulation and UV resistance. Natural light tests showed that the temperature rise rate of RSF/Al₂O₃ NPs hybrid fibers was slower than that of RSF fibers, and the average temperature rose from 29.1 °C to about 35.4 °C in 15 min, while RSF fibers could rise to about 40.1 °C. UV absorption tests showed that the hybrid fiber was resistant to UV radiation. Furthermore, the addition of Al₂O₃ NPs may improve the mechanical properties of the hybrid fibers. This was because the blending of Al₂O₃ NPs promoted the self-assembly of β-sheets in the RSF reaction mixture in a dose-dependent manner, which was manifested as the RSF/Al₂O₃ NPs hybrid fibers had more β-sheets, crystallinity, and a smaller crystal size. In addition, RSF/Al₂O₃ NPs hybrid fibers had good biocompatibility and durability in micro-alkaline sweat environments. The above performance makes the RSF/Al₂O₃ NPs hybrid fibers promising candidates for application in heat-insulating and UV-resistant fabrics as well as military clothing. Full article

In the first half of the twentieth century, scientific communities worldwide endeavored to diminish dependence on expensive and scarce animal fibers like wool and silk. Their efforts focused on developing regenerated protein fibers, including soy, zein, and casein, to provide comparable benefits to natural protein fibers, such as lustrous appearance, warmth, and a soft feel. The popularity and cost-effectiveness of mass-produced petroleum-based synthetic polymer fibers during World War II diminished interest in developing soy protein fiber. Realizing the ecological degradation caused by fossil fuels and their derived products, a renewed drive exists to explore bio-based waste materials like soy protein. As a fast-growing crop, soy provides abundant byproducts with opportunities for waste valorization. The soybean oil extraction process produces soy protein as a byproduct, which is a highly tunable biopolymer. Various functional groups within the soy protein structure enable it to acquire different valuable properties. This review critically examines scholarly publications addressing soy protein fiber developmental history, soy protein microstructure modification methods, and soy protein fiber spinning technologies. Additionally, we provide our scientific-based views relevant to overcoming the limitations of previous work and share prospects to make soy protein byproducts viable textile fibers. Full article

Zea mays L. Poaceae stigma (corn silk, CS) is a byproduct of agricultural waste and is used as a traditional herb in many countries. CS is rich in chemical compounds known to benefit human health and is also a remedy for infectious diseases and has anti-proliferative effects on human cancer cell lines. In the present study, CS extract has been evaluated for its antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-tyrosinase activities and its phytochemical composition. The higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents were found in the ethanolic extract of corn silk (CSA), at 28.27 ± 0.86 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract and 4.71 ± 0.79 mg quercetin equivalent/g extract, respectively. Moreover, the antioxidant content of CSA was found at 5.22 ± 0.87 and 13.20 ± 0.42 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract using DPPH and reducing power assays. Furthermore, the ethanolic extract of corn silk showed tyrosinase inhibition with an IC₅₀ value of 12.45 µg/mL. The bacterial growth inhibition of CSA was tested using agar disc diffusion and broth dilution assays against Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis. It was found that CSA inhibited C. acnes and S. epidermidis with an inhibition zone of 11.7 ± 1.2 and 9.3 ± 0.6 mm, respectively. Moreover, the CSA showed MIC/MBC of 15.625 mg/mL against C. acnes. The following phytochemical compounds were detected in CSA: cardiac glycosides; n-hexadecanoic acid; hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester; oleic acid; and 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, ethyl ester. After the corn silk cream product was formulated, the product demonstrated stability without phase separation. This research is beneficial for promoting effective ways to use agricultural waste while utilizing the antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, and antibacterial activities of corn silk. Moreover, the use of technology and innovation to obtain high-value CS extract will benefit the development of commercial cosmetic products by providing safe, natural, and quality ingredients to the consumer. Full article

Straw returning is an environmentally friendly method to improve soil health and agricultural productivity by reusing organic waste products. However, fields are often also treated with inorganic fertilizers, and the effect of the interaction between phosphate fertilizer application and straw return on crop yield remains unclear. Therefore, a full-factorial, two-year field experiment was conducted on sweet corn (NARC-16 in late 2021 and Kashmeri-19 in early 2022) to explore how crop yield may be optimized by combining straw return with efficient phosphate fertilization. The experiment involved the application of DAP, SSP, and NP (three different types of phosphates) and the application of crop waste byproducts, namely the residual stover left after sorghum and maize harvesting. We compared control fields with no crop waste or phosphate addition (CR0 and PS0) to experimental plots treated with various phosphates and straw return. Growth parameters such as days to emergence, tasseling, silking and maturity, emergence rate (emergence m⁻²), height of plant, number of leaves, leaf area per plant, and yield were evaluated, and the influence of the treatment on the economic value of crops was estimated. Phosphorus and straw return were applied at rates of 90 kg per hectare and 5 tons per hectare, respectively. The best P-crop straw combination treatment involved DAP (90 kg ha⁻¹) with the incorporation of 5 tons’ ha⁻¹ of maize straw, which resulted in delayed tasseling (50 days), early silking (68 days), taller plants (178 cm), improved thousand-grain weight (233 g), maximum biological yield (11,349 kg ha⁻¹) and grain yield (3760 kg ha⁻¹). The application of DAP with maize straw return resulted in the highest plant height, biological yield, and grain yield of sweet corn during the second year of the experiment, despite the first year’s yield being influenced by a natural disaster. This combined management strategy (using either DAP or crop residuals) was found to have a more a favorable cost–benefit ratio (BCR) efficiency. In conclusion, increasing the use of crop residuals can help reduce the expensive application of synthetic mineral fertilizers like SSP and NP, while significantly increasing sweet corn production and improving profit margins. Considering the importance of environmental friendliness and sustainable agriculture, the combined use of DAP and straw return is considered a viable method. Full article

Natural fibres are the preferred options for garment, technical and medical textiles, nonwovens and composites. Their sustainability is a considerable advantage, though the nature of silk production and processing involves a large amount of waste. The present review explores the current issues of recycling silk waste into nonwovens for various purposes. The article proposes obtaining nonwovens from short fibres using electrospinning of fibroin solutions in volatile solvents. Longer fibres are proposed to be processed into needle-punched nonwoven materials with a selection of an effective antistatic treatment. Full article

In recent times, numerous natural materials have been used for the fabrication of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Natural resources used for the synthesis of AuNPs are more environment friendly than chemical resources. Sericin is a silk protein that is discarded during the degumming process for obtaining silk. The current research used sericin silk protein waste materials as the reducing agent for the manufacture of gold nanoparticles (SGNPs) by a one-pot green synthesis method. Further, the antibacterial effect and antibacterial mechanism of action, tyrosinase inhibition, and photocatalytic degradation potential of these SGNPs were evaluated. The SGNPs displayed positive antibacterial activity (8.45–9.58 mm zone of inhibition at 50 μg/disc) against all six tested foodborne pathogenic bacteria, namely, Enterococcus feacium DB01, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 13565, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 33090, Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 23514, Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 7966, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27583. The SGNPs also exhibited promising tyrosinase inhibition potential, with 32.83% inhibition at 100 μg/mL concentration as compared to 52.4% by Kojic acid, taken as a reference standard compound. The SGNPs also displayed significant photocatalytic degradation effects, with 44.87% methylene blue dye degradation after 5 h of incubation. Moreover, the antibacterial mode of action of the SGNPs was also investigated against E. coli and E. feacium, and the results show that due to the small size of the nanomaterials, they could have adhered to the surface of the bacterial pathogens, and could have released more ions and dispersed in the bacterial cell wall surrounding environment, thereby disrupting the cell membrane and ROS production, and subsequently penetrating the bacterial cells, resulting in lysis or damage to the cell by the process of structural damage to the membrane, oxidative stress, and damage to the DNA and bacterial proteins. The overall outcome of the current investigation concludes the positive effects of the obtained SGNPs and their prospective applications as a natural antibacterial agent in cosmetics, environmental, and foodstuff industries, and for the management of environmental contagion. Full article

There is a wide range of renewable materials with attractive prospects for the development of green technologies for the removal and recovery of metals from aqueous streams. A special category among them are natural fibers of biological origin, which combine remarkable biosorption properties with the adaptability of useful forms for cleanup and recycling purposes. To support the efficient exploitation of these advantages, this article reviews the current state of research on the potential and real applications of natural cellulosic and protein fibers as biosorbents for the sequestration of metals from aqueous solutions. The discussion on the scientific literature reports is made in sections that consider the classification and characterization of natural fibers and the analysis of performances of lignocellulosic biofibers and wool, silk, and human hair waste fibers to the metal uptake from diluted aqueous solutions. Finally, future research directions are recommended. Compared to other reviews, this work debates, systematizes, and correlates the available data on the metal biosorption on plant and protein biofibers, under non-competitive and competitive conditions, from synthetic, simulated, and real solutions, providing a deep insight into the biosorbents based on both types of eco-friendly fibers. Full article

There is growing concern about the use of plastic in packaging for food materials, as this results in increased plastic waste materials in the environment. To counter this, alternative sources of packaging materials that are natural and based on eco-friendly materials and proteins have been widely investigated for their potential application in food packaging and other industries of the food sector. Sericin, a silk protein that is usually discarded in large quantities by the sericulture and textile industries during the degumming process of manufacturing silk from silk cocoons, can be explored for its application in food packaging and in other food sectors as a functional food and component of food items. Hence, its repurposing can result in reduced economic costs and environmental waste. Sericin extracted from silk cocoon possesses several useful amino acids, such as aspartic acid, glycine, and serine. Likewise, sericin is strongly hydrophilic, a property that confers effective biological and biocompatible characteristics, including antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-tyrosinase properties. When used in combination with other biomaterials, sericin has proved to be effective in the manufacture of films or coating or packaging materials. In this review, the characteristics of sericin materials and their potential application in food-sector industries are discussed in detail. Full article

Plants are a rich source of phytochemical compounds with antioxidant activity. Several studies have revealed that the consumption of plant polyphenols reduces the risk of diseases. Purple corn (Zea mays L. variety KND) and butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea; CT) were selected to be investigated as alternative natural polyphenol sources to increase the value of these plants. Phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activities of KND cob, silk, husk and CT extracts alone and in combination were investigated in this study. The results revealed that purple corn cob (C) extract had the highest tryptophan, melatonin, total anthocyanin (TAC) and delphinidin content, while the purple corn silk (S) extract showed the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activities. Serotonin was found only in purple corn husk (H) extract and C extract. High contents of tryptophan and sinapic acid were found in CT extract. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that strong antioxidant activities were strongly correlated with protocatechuic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid contents, moderate antioxidant activities were strongly correlated with melatonin, and low antioxidant activities were strongly correlated with sinapic acid content. Therefore, the purple corn variety KND waste cobs, silk and husks are a potentially rich source of health-promoting phytochemical compounds. Full article

(1) Background: The processing of silk threads secreted by the silkworm Bombyx mori leads to large amounts of sericin as textile waste. Its biochemical and medical properties open a new perspective for its use in the food industry and its authorization as a new food ingredient in the European Union, by the European Commission and the European Food Safety Authority. (2) Methods: Experimental and physico–chemical analyzes were carried out to obtain a sustainable prebiotic dessert with low energy value, containing Sericin produced by Bombyx Mori, which does not contain sugar and can be consumed both by people who want a healthy diet and people who need food for special nutritional conditions, such as diabetes, dysphagia or inflammatory diseases. (3) Results: The sustainable jelly was made from depectinized apple juice, pectin, sericin, lactoferrin, stevia and pectin. This dessert is natural and can be certified organic and HALAL. (4) Conclusions: Sericin can be used in the manufacture of a very wide range of foods. Being a glycoprotein, it can also be used to obtain jelling foods with low energy value, including foods for patients with dysphagia. This represents an important sustainable resource of essential amino acids for the normal homeostasis of the human body. Full article

The surface modification of materials obtained from natural polymers, such as silk fibroin with metal nanoparticles that exhibit intrinsic electrical characteristics, allows the obtaining of biocomposite materials capable of favoring the propagation and conduction of electrical impulses, acting as communicating structures in electrically isolated areas. On that basis, this investigation determined the electrochemical and electroconductive behavior through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of a silk fibroin electrospun membrane from silk fibrous waste functionalized with gold or silver nanoparticles synthetized by green chemical reduction methodologies. Based on the results obtained, we found that silk fibroin from silk fibrous waste (SF_w) favored the formation of gold (AuNPs-SF_w) and silver (AgNPs-SF_w) nanoparticles, acting as a reducing agent and surfactant, forming a micellar structure around the individual nanoparticle. Moreover, different electrospinning conditions influenced the morphological properties of the fibers, in the presence or absence of beads and the amount of sample collected. Furthermore, treated SF_w electrospun membranes, functionalized with AuNPs-SF_w or AgNPS-SF_w, allowed the conduction of electrical stimuli, acting as stimulators and modulators of electric current. Full article

Corn silk has long been thought of as a waste product; however, due to its numerous therapeutic attributes, it has remarkably gained popularity in Asian and African countries. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the bioactivity of dried corn silk powder (Zea mays, G5417) in terms of its physicochemical and bio-functional characteristics. The protein (15.29 ± 1.23) and ash (5.29 ± 0.29) contents in the corn silk powder were found to be high. The high phenolic content (94.10 ± 0.26 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid content (163.93 ± 0.83 mg QE/100 g) are responsible for its high antioxidant activity. The corn silk powder showed 45.40 ± 0.92% FRSA, 75.25 ± 0.59 TEAC mg/gdw of ABTS, and 86.77 ± 0.88% of FRAP. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed stretching, bending, and vibrations of abundantly present polysaccharides and protein functional groups. Moreover, the DSC thermograph revealed the exothermic reactions at on-set temperature (T_onset) = 21.9 °C and end temperature (T_endset) = 102.80 °C, and exothermic reactions at on-set temperature (T_onset) = 252.02 °C, end temperature (T_endset) = 296.80 °C, and denaturation peak temperature (T_peak) = 277.48 °C, whereas XRD (2θ = 21.5°) confirmed the amorphous nature of the corn silk powder. Therefore, due to the potential bioactivity and thermal stability, dry corn silk powder can be scaled up at an industrial level. Full article