Bioutilization of Chicken Feather Waste by Newly Isolated Keratinolytic Bacteria and Conversion into Protein Hydrolysates with Improved Functionalities.

Chicken feathers are major poultry waste that is difficult to process in its native form due to highly resistant keratin protein in large amounts. In this study, a novel feather-degrading bacterium, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KB1, was screened from a chicken farm bed (CFB) using morphological and biochemical tests followed by 16s rDNA analysis. Among observed isolates, bacterial isolate (KB1) showed the highest degree of feather degradation (74.78 ± 2.94%) and total soluble protein (205 ± 0.03 mg/g). The optimum fermentation conditions obtained were at 40 °C (temperature), pH 9, and 1% (w/v) feather concentration using response surface methodology in a Box-Behnken design. It produced 260 mg/g of soluble protein and bioactive peptides with 86.16% feather degradation. The amino acid profile showed an increase in the concentration of essential amino acids compared with the feather meal broth. The selection of a safe screening source for this new bacterium in CFB produced hydrolysates with enhanced bioactivity applicable for feed, and cosmetic applications, along with environmental bioremediation.