Follow
International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences (IJCMAS)
IJCMAS is now DOI (CrossRef) registered Research Journal. The DOIs are assigned to all published IJCMAS Articles.
Index Copernicus ICI Journals Master List 2023 - IJCMAS--ICV 2023: 95.56 For more details click here
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) : NAAS Score: *5.38 (2020) [Effective from January 1, 2020] For more details click here

Login as a Reviewer


See Guidelines to Authors
Current Issues
Download Publication Certificate

Original Research Articles Volume : Specialissue, Issue : 13, January,

PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706
Issues : 12 per year
Publisher : Excellent Publishers
Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com
submit@ijcmas.com
Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash
Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39
NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38

Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci..Specialissue(13) : 1-8
DOI : https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2026.sp13.001


Synthesis of Biodegradable Packaging Material using Polyhydroxyalkanoate Produced by Bacillus subtilis

S. Amrithalakshmi, S. Anusuya, N. Aarthi, J. Afrose Fathima, V. Arthika and C. Soundhari*
Department of Microbiology, Valliammal College for Women, Chennai – 600102, Tamil Nadu, India
*Corresponding author
Abstract:

Petroleum-based plastics persist in the environment, creating a need for biodegradable alternatives. This study investigated PHA production by a rhizosphere isolate identified as Bacillus subtilis and its incorporation into an agar–chitosan film. PHA production was screened using Mineral Davis Medium and Sudan Black B staining. The polymer was extracted using sodium hypochlorite–chloroform treatment and incorporated into the film with glycerol as a plasticizer. The film was evaluated by FTIR, solubility, melting-point, and soil-burial tests. PHA was insoluble in water but soluble in chloroform. The film showed a melting point of approximately 70°C and 26.9% weight loss after 20 days of soil burial. The findings support the potential of PHA-based films for biodegradable packaging applications.


Keywords: Biodegrad able packaging, Bacillus subtilis, polyhydro xyalkanoat e (PHA), chitosan


References:

Amaral-Zettler, L.A., Zettler, E.R., and Mincer, T.J. Ecology of the plastisphere. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2020, 18(3):139–151. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0308-0

Akintunde, M.O., Adebayo-Tayo, B.C., Ishola, M.M., Zamani, A., and Sárvári Horváth, I. Bacterial cellulose production from agricultural residues by two Komagataeibacter sp. strains. Bioengineered, 2022, 13(4):10010–10025. https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2022.2062970

Bouallegue, A., Sabbah, M., Di Pierro, P., Salamatullah, A.M., Bourhia, M., and Ellouz-Chaabouni, S. Properties of active levan-bitter vetch protein films for potential use in food packaging applications. ACS Omega, 2023, 8(45):42787–42796. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c05627

Diop, C.I.K., Beltrán, S., Sanz, M.T., García-Tojal, J., and Trigo-López, M. Designing bilayered composite films by direct agar/chitosan and citric acid-crosslinked PVA/agar layer-by-layer casting for packaging applications. Food Hydrocolloids, 2023, 144:108987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2023.108987

Fransiska, D., Abdullah, A.H.D., Nurhayati, Irianto, H.E., Nissa, R.C., Sedayu, B.B., Syamani, F.A., Raharjo, S., Suwarti, and Agusman. Impact of agar-glycerol ratios on the physicochemical properties of biodegradable seaweed films: A compositional study. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2024, 280(3):135855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.135855

Geyer, R., Jambeck, J.R., and Law, K.L. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 2017, 3(7):e1700782. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782

Hahn, S.K., Chang, Y.K., and Lee, S.Y. Recovery and characterization of poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid) in Alcaligenes eutrophus H16. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1994, 60(9):3379–3384. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.60.9.3379-3384.1994

Iftikhar, N., Quddus, F., Nadeem, N., Ali, I., Raza, M.U., and Zaid, M. Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by Bacillus and Pseudomonas on cheap carbon substrates. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 2024, 67:e24230082. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4324-2024230082

Joseph, J. and Chithira, O.S. Characterisation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from Bacillus subtilis strain P isolated from rhizosphere soil. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2021, 10(1):3004–3014. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2021.1001.348

Khiabani, A., Sarabi-Jamab, M., Shakeri, M.S., Pahlevanlo, A., and Emadzadeh, B. Exploring the Acetobacteraceae family isolated from kombucha SCOBYs worldwide and comparing yield and characteristics of biocellulose under various fermentation conditions. Scientific Reports, 2024, 14:26616. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77305-w

Koller, M. Biodegradable and biocompatible polyhydroxyalkanoates as auspicious microbial macromolecules for pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications. Materials, 2018, 11(6):1006. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11061006

Mohammed, S. and Ray, L. Polyhydroxyalkanoate recovery from newly screened Bacillus sp. LPPI-18 using various methods of extraction from Loktak Lake sediment sample. Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 2022, 20:115. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43141-022-00392-7

Naseem, A., Rasul, I., Raza, Z.A., Muneer, F., Rehman, A.U., and Nadeem, H. Bacterial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) using various waste carbon sources. PeerJ, 2024, 12:e17936. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17936

Norozi, M., Peighambardoust, S.H., Khorram, S., and Hamishehkar, H. Cold plasma-enhanced polylactic acid/chitosan films incorporating zein nanoparticles: a promising strategy for developing food packaging materials. Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2025, 10:100852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carpta.2025.100852

Rajasekharan, S.K., Paz-Aviram, T., Galili, S., Berkovich, Z., Reifen, R., and Shemesh, M. Biofilm formation onto starch fibres by Bacillus subtilis governs its successful adaptation to chickpea milk. Microbial Biotechnology, 2021, 14(4):1839–1846. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.13665

Rebocho, A.T., Pereira, J.R., Neves, L.A., Alves, V.D., Sevrin, C., Grandfils, C., Freitas, F., and Reis, M.A.M. Preparation and characterization of films based on a natural P(3HB)/mcl-PHA blend obtained through the co-culture of Cupriavidus necator and Pseudomonas citronellolis in apple pulp waste. Bioengineering, 2020, 7(2):34. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering7020034

Rybalchenko, N.P., Demchenko, V.L., Hnatiuk, T.T., Vasyliuk, O.M., Iurzhenko, M.V., Rybalchenko, T.V., Sytnyk, I.O., Shtepa, D.V., and Marynin, A.I. Antimicrobial effect of biopolymer packaging materials with silver nanoparticles for food storage. Microbiological Journal, 2024, 86(6):30–41. https://doi.org/10.15407/microbiolj86.06.030

Sharma, D., Singh, S.S., Baindara, P., Sharma, S., Khatri, N., Grover, V., Patil, P.B., and Korpole, S. Surfactin-like broad spectrum antimicrobial lipopeptide co-produced with sublancin from Bacillus subtilis strain A52: dual reservoir of bioactives. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020, 11:1167. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01167

Sharma, M., Tellili, N., Kacem, I., and Rouissi, T. Microbial biopolymers: from production to environmental applications—a review. Applied Sciences, 2024, 14(12):5081. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14125081

To, H.T.A. Development of protective culture production from Bacillus subtilis P5-6 as food bio-preservative. Chulalongkorn University, 2020. https://doi.org/10.58837/CHULA.THE.2020.1408

Wijayanti, S.D., Oliviani, K., Kusnadi, J., and Putri, R.A.C. Characterization of crude cellulase enzyme produced by Bacillus licheniformis P12 isolate. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020, 475(1):012085. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/475/1/012085

Download this article as Download

How to cite this article:

Amrithalakshmi S., Anusuya S., Aarthi N., Afrose Fathima J., Arthika V. and Soundhari C. 2026. Synthesis of Biodegradable Packaging Material using Polyhydroxyalkanoate Produced by Bacillus subtilis Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. Specialissue(13): 1-8 doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2026.sp13.001
Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license

Citations

"; var printWin = window.open( '', '', 'scrollbars=yes,width=' + w + ',height=' + h + ',top=' + top + ',left=' + left ); printWin.document.write(html); printWin.document.close(); printWin.focus(); printWin.print(); printWin.close(); }