Lactobacillus sps. lipase mediated poly (ε-caprolactone) degradation

- PCL degradation by lipases from Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus plantarum and their co-culture is reported.
- The mechanistic study reveals that the amorphous regions of PCL are mainly degraded by the enzymes.
- The Lactobacillus plantarum lipase has been found to be the most efficient one towards PCL degradation.

Polymer degradation through lipase appears to be an enthralling alternative to bulk chemical routes. Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is an artificial polyester that can be degraded by microbes and enzymes like lipases and esterases. The environmental degradation of PCL is dependent on the activity of bacteria that characterization techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal are widely present in the ecosystem. In this study, three different lipases derived from Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus plantarum and their co-culture have been utilized to explore their efficiency towards PCL enzymatic degradation. The effect of parameters such as enzyme loading and degradation time has been explored to understand the efficiency of the enzymes used in this study. Various analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy have been employed to study the enzymatic degradation and its possible mechanistic insight.