Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, SZABIST University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Pakistan.
Biopolymers. 2024 Jul;115(4):e23586. doi: 10.1002/bip.23586. Epub 2024 May 15.
Cellulose nanofibers, a sustainable and promising material with widespread applications, exhibit appreciable strength and excellent mechanical and physicochemical properties. The preparation of cellulosic nanofibers from food or agricultural residue is not sustainable. Therefore, this study was designed to use three halophytic plants (Cressa cretica, Phragmites karka, and Suaeda fruticosa) to extract cellulose for the subsequent conversion to cellulosic nanofibers composites. The other extracted biomass components including lignin, hemicellulose, and pectin were also utilized to obtain industrially valuable enzymes. The maximum pectinase (31.56 IU mL), xylanase (35.21 IU mL), and laccase (15.89 IU mL) were produced after the fermentation of extracted pectin, hemicellulose, and lignin from S. fruticosa, P. karka, and C. cretica, respectively. Cellulose was methylated (with a degree of substitution of 2.4) and subsequently converted into a composite using polyvinyl alcohol. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the successful synthesis of the composites. The composites made up of cellulose from C. cretica and S. fruticosa had a high tensile strength (21.5 and 15.2 MPa) and low biodegradability (47.58% and 44.56%, respectively) after dumping for 3 months in soil, as compared with the composite from P. karka (98.79% biodegradability and 4.9 MPa tensile strength). Moreover, all the composites exhibited antibacterial activity against gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). Hence, this study emphasizes the possibility for various industrial applications of biomass from halophytic plants.
纤维素纳米纤维是一种具有广泛应用前景的可持续材料，具有可观的强度和优异的机械和物理化学性能。然而，从食品或农业废弃物中制备纤维素纳米纤维是不可持续的。因此，本研究旨在利用三种盐生植物（獐牙菜、芦苇和滨藜）提取纤维素，随后将其转化为纤维素纳米纤维复合材料。其他提取的生物质成分，包括木质素、半纤维素和果胶，也被用于获得具有工业价值的酶。从滨藜、芦苇和獐牙菜中提取的果胶、半纤维素和木质素发酵后，分别产生了最大量的果胶酶（31.56IU/mL）、木聚糖酶（35.21IU/mL）和漆酶（15.89IU/mL）。纤维素经过甲基化（取代度为 2.4），然后与聚乙烯醇复合。扫描电子显微镜和傅里叶变换红外光谱证实了复合材料的成功合成。与芦苇和獐牙菜纤维素复合材料相比，在土壤中放置 3 个月后，由芦苇和獐牙菜纤维素制成的复合材料具有较高的拉伸强度（21.5和 15.2MPa）和较低的生物降解性（分别为 47.58%和 44.56%），而由芦苇纤维素制成的复合材料具有较高的生物降解性（98.79%）和较低的拉伸强度（4.9MPa）。此外，所有的复合材料都表现出对革兰氏阴性菌（大肠杆菌和肺炎克雷伯菌）和革兰氏阳性菌（金黄色葡萄球菌）的抗菌活性。因此，本研究强调了从盐生植物生物质中获得各种工业应用的可能性。
