Microplastic pollution is a pervasive global challenge, with millions of tons of plastic entering terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems each year and persisting across diverse environmental compartments. Conventional physical and chemical remediation strategies remain energy-intensive and inefficient, highlighting the need for scalable biological alternatives. Here, we synthesize recent advances in lipase-mediated degradation of ester-bond-containing plastics and propose a unifying framework for programmable biodegradation, in which enzyme activity, substrate accessibility, and downstream metabolism are systematically coordinated. Lipases (EC 3.1.1.3) can hydrolyze synthetic polyesters, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), polylactide (PLA), and polycaprolactone (PCL), but their performance is constrained by polymer crystallinity, limited environmental stability, and restricted substrate specificity. Integrating insights from multi-omics discovery, artificial intelligence-guided enzyme engineering, and systems-level design reveals emerging strategies to enhance catalytic efficiency and environmental robustness. Although engineered enzyme systems can achieve high depolymerization and monomer recovery under controlled conditions, translation to real environments remains limited by diffusion constraints, enzyme inactivation, and regulatory considerations. Reframing plastic degradation as a multi-scale, designable system rather than a single-enzyme process highlights opportunities for coupling protein engineering with controlled deployment, including biofilm-based localization and metabolic pathway integration, to enable more effective and environmentally relevant microplastic remediation.

Throughout the history of therapeutic science enzymes play a crucial role in traditional and modern therapeutic practices, with microbial enzymes being a sustainable and efficient biocatalytic resource for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. This review provides a comprehensive examination of microbial enzymes, covering their structural and biochemical properties, production optimization, purification methods, kinetic behavior, and their applications in pharmaceutical and therapeutic fields. We systematically surveyed the peer-reviewed literature to synthesize current knowledge on microbial enzyme sources, strain development strategies, fermentation optimization, downstream purification, kinetic characterization, and pharmaceutical applications. Microbial enzymes dominate the global enzyme market due to their selectivity, efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Advances in molecular biology and genetic engineering have led to the development of enzymes with enhanced stability and activity. Immobilization and nanotechnology have further improved enzyme stability, reduced degradation, and lowered production costs, expanding their pharmaceutical and therapeutic potential. Microbial enzymes are versatile biocatalysts with significant pharmaceutical value, and ongoing research into novel enzyme candidates and advanced biotechnological approaches is crucial for enhancing enzyme-based therapies. We contend that microbial enzymes will remain central to future drug development, offering sustainable, biocompatible, and highly specific solutions to unmet medical needs across oncology, metabolic disorders, inflammation, and infectious disease.

This study investigates the use of a hybrid approach combining various ratios of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) with hydroethanolic extracts of Salicornia emerici, Sarcocornia fruticosa, and Sarcocornia alpini as reducing agents for AgNPs synthesis. The resulting nanoparticles were confirmed by the presence of a characteristic absorption peak around 400 nm using UV-visible spectroscopy, observed for Sarcocornia-mediated AgNPs at a 1:5 (v/v) extract-to-NaBH4 ratio and at a 1:2 (v/v) ratio for AgNPs synthesized from S. emerici (SE-AgNPs). Furthermore, their size, dispersity and morphology were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The nanoparticles displayed variable sizes with broad polydispersity, reflecting heterogeneous nucleation associated with plant-derived metabolites, and predominantly exhibited a cubic shape. Their antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains was evaluated using the broth microdilution method. All formulations inhibited bacterial growth, showing size-independent efficacy. The inhibition of multidrug-resistant bacteria Enterococcus faecalis was particularly noteworthy, with the strongest efficacy observed in SE-AgNPs at a concentration of 21.9 µg/mL. Taken together, the findings suggest that hybrid synthesis can generate bioactive AgNPs while partially reducing dependence on strong chemical reductants. Future work should focus on improving nanoparticle size control, cytotoxicity assessment, and elucidating the mechanistic pathways underlying their bioactivity.

The study focused on the rational design of recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) by structure-based single-site modification and process optimization. The research was conducted in two main stages. In the first stage, a new A7G point mutation was introduced to the 3D structure of rhG-CSF by means of computational design. The mutant model, following energy minimization, displayed satisfactory stereochemistry (Molprobity clashscore 2.32) and maintained the native fold, suggesting that the mutation is structurally compatible. The second phase involved optimization of a high-yield expression system with the use of recombinant vector pET3a in E. coli BL21(DE3). Optimization of culture conditions showed that 4XYT medium with 0.5 mM IPTG and a 17-hour induction time resulted in the highest level of expression of the mutant protein. Such conditions led to a very high biomass yield of 96 grams of cells. The novelty of the present research work lies in the incorporation of the structure-guided single residue modification and process optimization in one step, resulting in structurally validated A7G rhG-CSF and process optimization to 5 L scale in complex medium.

Global fruit production reached 953.8 million tonnes in 2024, generating peel residues of 15%-50% of fruit weight that are largely discarded despite containing polyphenols, carotenoids, dietary fiber, and enzymes of commercial value. Existing reviews address this in fragments, covering extraction, green solvents, or food applications alone, but none traces the full pipeline from raw peel to finished product. This review provides an integrated, critically evaluated assessment of the entire valorization chain: extraction, purification, characterization, biological evaluation, and application. Rather than cataloguing methods, we compare them against yield, solvent use, energy demand, environmental impact, and scalability. Ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction cut processing time by 70%-95% and solvent use by 50%-90%, while supercritical CO2 extraction offers selectivity for non-polar compounds at high cost. Purification is the least standardized step, with resin adsorption and membrane separation most scalable. Characterization suffers from inconsistent validation, with detection limits, recovery, and matrix effects often unreported. Peel bioactives act through defined pathways (NF-κB, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, apoptosis, Nrf2, AMPK/GLUT4), yet efficacy is often shown at concentrations exceeding achievable plasma levels, making bioavailability the principal translational barrier. This review will be valuable to researchers in food science, analytical chemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences by integrating these traditionally different stages and identifying the key challenges that limit industrial and clinical translation.

Nisin is an antimicrobial peptide which offers potential for the replacement of synthetic preservatives in the food industry. However, nisin is difficult to produce on a large scale due to low synthesis efficiency and severe feedback inhibition. The objective of this work was to promote nisin production by integrating rare earth salt stimulation and foam separation with fermentation system. Experimental results indicated that the addition of 1 × 10[-4] M TmCl3 into fermentation medium could significantly stimulate cell growth and nisin synthesis. The suitable feeding time of TmCl3 was the ninth hour after fermentation starting. Multiple characterization methods were used to explore the potential mechanism for TmCl3 stimulation. The increase in TmCl3 concentration contributed to improving the permeability of cell wall, but caused the degradation or denaturation of nucleic acids. Moreover, the addition of TmCl3 could regulate the expression of genes related precursor peptide synthesis and immunity. Finally, foam separation had been used for in-situ recovering nisin from the fermentation system. Under the optimum conditions predicted by using response surface methodology, the recovery percentage of nisin was 93.64 ± 1.31%. Compared with fermentation process without TmCl3 addition and foam separation, the total nisin titer of 8612.39 ± 140.58 IU/mL was increased by 114.44 ± 8.89%.

Dextran is a microbial homopolymer of α-glucan, consisting of α-(1,6) glycosidic linkage backbone with side chains branching via α-(1,2), α-(1,3), or α-(1,4) linkages. Due to its distinctive characteristics, including molecular mass, compatibility, and thermal stability, it is widely applied in various fields, such as food, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and environmental applications. Although previous reports have illustrated the application of microbial sources and the essential factors influencing fermentation and enzymatic pathways, a sustainable strategy for bioprocess engineering to produce microbial dextran has not been elaborated upon. This review provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of microbial dextran production, aiming to enable green bioprocess engineering strategies that enhance production for industrial applicability, promoting a sustainable approach.

Lignin is one of the most abundant yet recalcitrant biopolymers in nature, and its inefficient depolymerization remains a major bottleneck in lignocellulosic biomass valorization and sustainable biorefinery development. Although fungal oxidative enzymes have emerged as promising biocatalysts for lignin degradation, current knowledge remains fragmented across fungal diversity, catalytic mechanisms, enzyme engineering, and industrial translation. This review critically integrates recent advances in fungal ligninolytic systems, focusing on the structure, catalytic mechanisms, and synergistic interactions of major oxidative enzymes, including lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, versatile peroxidase, laccase, and auxiliary oxidases such as aryl alcohol oxidase and glyoxal oxidase. Particular emphasis is placed on the comparative catalytic efficiency, operational limitations, and industrial feasibility of these enzymes in lignin depolymerization and biomass conversion. Recent developments in protein engineering, directed evolution, heterologous expression, immobilized enzyme systems, synthetic biology, and AI-assisted enzyme optimization are also discussed as emerging strategies to improve enzyme stability, substrate specificity, and process scalability. The review further highlights the role of fungal oxidative enzymes in bioremediation, lignocellulosic biorefineries, wastewater detoxification, biofuel production, and synthesis of value-added aromatic compounds. Importantly, it establishes a direct link between fungal ligninolytic systems and circular bioeconomy models through sustainable waste valorization and biomass-to-value conversion. Overall, this review provides an integrated perspective on the challenges, technological advancements, and future prospects of fungal oxidative enzymes for sustainable industrial biotechnology.

The textile industry generates large volumes of dye-laden effluents that pose risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health. This study evaluates the bioaccumulation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) using Candida boidinii and Kluyveromyces marxianus yeast strains. Key operational parameters including initial pH, incubation time, dye concentration, and microbial growth were systematically investigated. In addition, the effects of low-cost agricultural wastes-carrot pomace (CP), industrial tea waste (ITW), and pumpkin pomace (PP)-as supplementary substrates were compared. Results showed that CP was the most effective substrate, with 100 g/L CP significantly enhancing RB5 removal. At pH 5.0 and 50 mg/L RB5, removal efficiencies reached 96.88% for C. boidinii and 81.76% for K. marxianus with CP, compared to 72.90% and 65.07% with PP. Although removal efficiency decreased at higher dye concentrations, the maximum dye uptake capacity (qm) increased with initial RB5 concentration, reaching 52.52 mg/g for C. boidinii and 33.23 mg/g for K. marxianus over the tested range (≈50-600 mg/L). To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating RB5 removal by these yeasts using CP as a low-cost substrate. Overall, CP significantly improves yeast-based RB5 bioaccumulation and represents a promising, sustainable option for treating dye-contaminated wastewater.

Plant polysaccharides have attracted considerable interest in natural product research due to their immunomodulatory, antitumor, and hypoglycemic activities. The development of efficient and gentle extraction and purification techniques is crucial for obtaining highly pure bioactive polysaccharides. This review systematically covers recent progress in extraction methods, including conventional hot water (simple but time‑consuming), acid/alkali (high yield but structure‑damaging), enzyme‑assisted, and physical field‑assisted techniques such as ultrasound and microwave, which provide higher efficiency under gentler conditions. For purification, a comparative analysis was conducted on the advantages and limitations of physical/chemical and biological methods for purifying polysaccharides. Furthermore, the review addresses current challenges, such as limited selectivity and throughput, and explores future directions, including the adoption of green solvents, intelligent process control, and integrated extraction-purification-evaluation platforms, with the objective of facilitating standardized production and high-value utilization.

L-Asparaginase is an important enzyme with therapeutic applications. Current commercial enzymes from E. coli and Erwinia chrysanthemi have limitations, such as high glutaminase activity, creating a need for more stable alternatives. This study aimed to isolate and optimize the production of L-Asparaginase from native, halotolerant Bacillus subtilis strains (DAR and D6A) isolated from central Iran, to find an alternative source for this therapeutically important enzyme. The enzyme was initially isolated using polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation. Key factors affecting enzyme production were screened using the Plackett-Burman design and subsequently optimized via the Box-Behnken response surface methodology. PEG precipitation at concentrations of 15-20% for PEG 4000/6000 and 10-15% for PEG 8000/10000 was most effective for initial enzyme separation, yielding specific activities of 4.8 U/mg and 5.2 U/mg for strains DAR and D6A, respectively. Optimization revealed that the most influential factors for maximum L-Asparaginase production were 17.6 g/L NaCl, 4.99 g/L KH2PO4, and 10 g/L asparagine for strain DAR, and 1.49 g/L glucose, 10 g/L NaCl, and 9.98 g/L asparagine for strain D6A. The isolated halotolerant B. subtilis strains are capable of producing L-Asparaginase. PEG precipitation is a suitable method for initial purification, and statistical optimization successfully identified the critical culture conditions to enhance enzyme yield significantly. These strains represent promising sources for the production of this clinically valuable enzyme.

Anaerobic biodegradation of bioplastics has gained increasing attention as a sustainable strategy for waste valorization and renewable energy recovery within circular bio-economy systems. The present study investigated the anaerobic biodegradation of Poly lactic acid (PLA) pellet, PLA film, Polybutylene succinate (PBS), and commercially available bioplastics under controlled conditions at different temperatures and incubation periods. Biodegradation behavior was evaluated through cumulative gas production, visual observations, FTIR characterization, kinetic modeling, and microbial analysis. All biopolymer samples exhibited significant cumulative gas production within 20 days before reaching the stationary phase. Among the biopolymer materials, PLA film showed distinct degradation behavior with high total solids (92.5%) and volatile solids (75.4%), along with the highest cumulative gas production. FTIR analysis and observable structural changes further confirmed polymer degradation during anaerobic digestion. Microbial species associated with biodegradation were identified through PCR amplification, 16S rRNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis, revealing the involvement of Bacillus sp in the degradation process. The cumulative biogas production profiles of all biopolymers followed the Hill sigmoidal kinetic model with high correlation coefficients (R[2]: 0.9854, 0.9839, 0.9931, and 0.9772 for PLA pellet, PBS, PLA film, and bioplastic, respectively), indicating excellent model fitting accuracy. Moreover, a generalized anaerobic biodegradation model equation was developed for biopolymers. The findings demonstrated the potential applicability of anaerobic digestion for biopolymer waste valorization through simultaneous biodegradation and biogas generation, supporting sustainable waste management and circular bio-economy approaches.

Phytogenic fabrication of nanostructures using bio-waste derivatives was potentially important due to its simple, ecofriendly and economical process. In addition to that, the construction and design of high surface two-dimensional nanostructures are significantly lime-lighted owing to their propound performance in catalytic, energy and environmental applications. The palladium quantum dots (Pd QDs) were anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanostructures were prepared by using Lychee fruit peel extract under ultra-sonication process. The crystalline features and phase purity of this were analyzed through the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and peaks are labeled with (111), (200), (220), (311) and (222) facets were observed. The morphological features like size, shape and distribution of the Pd QDs (4 ± 1 nm) on rGO nanosheets were examined through transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies. The oxidation states and chemical composition of prepared materials such as palladium and carbon and oxygen elements were studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis. The prepared Pd QDs decorated rGO sheets performed the enhanced catalytic activities against pollutant degradation (4-nitrophenol (4-NP)). Moreover, the prepared nanostructures were significantly performed antibacterial properties against gram positive (B. subtilis) and gram negative (E. coli) bacterial strains. From the obtained results, the phytogenic method used for preparing large scale synthesis of metal QDs decorated graphene nanosheets for diverse applications like catalytic, energy, medicinal and environmental applications.

In this study, the microalgae Neochloris sp. is isolated from freshwater bodies. To increase the biomass of Neochloris sp. primary optimization studies were done for the selection of suitable carbon and nitrogen sources. Further optimizations were conducted by response surface methodology (Box Behnken method) for increased biomass production. Neochloris sp. grown in the presence of 0.04 g/L sodium acetate, 1.5 g/L urea, 7.5 pH, at 30 °C temperature, showed increased biomass. A second-order polynomial produced satisfactory biomass yield results (P < 0.0001). Results of the predicted and actual response were different, with better residual > 0.02%, and predicted R[2] 0.9839 and actual R[2] 0.9928 for biomass, which shows a more reliable model. The bioactive compounds are extracted through Ultra-Sound Assisted extraction from Neochloris sp. and observed through TLC to confirm the presence of carotenoids which separates at a retention factor value of 0.38. A phytochemical test for the extract showed positive results for terpenoids. HPLC was performed for characterization studies which separate at a retention time of 4.171 min. The extract shows maximum DPPH radical scavenging activity of 93%, ABTS of 92% and H2O2 scavenging activity of 64% at 120 µL/mL concentration. From this study, we can conclude that Neochloris sp.is a possible microalgae for producing antioxidants that can be used in the food industry as a natural coloring agent.

Zinc ferrite nanoparticles have been synthesized via green gelation route employing a natural surfactant as a sustainable stabilizing additive. The usage of natural surfactants minimized the toxicity thereby offering an eco-friendly approach to synthesis of nanomaterials. The synthesized nanomaterials were systematically characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), FT-IR, SEM-EDAX, UV-visible, and VSM techniques. PXRD peaks reveal the formation of cubic spinel structure with no impurities. FT-IR spectrum confirmed the characteristic functional groups present in spinel ferrite. The prepared nanomaterials showed agglomeration with wider flaky grains from SEM analysis. The EDAX confirmed the elemental compositions present in zinc ferrite nanomaterials. VSM studies showed low saturation magnetization, coercivity and remnant magnetization. The absorption maxima for zinc ferrite nanomaterial around 318 nm corresponds to the charge transfer from ligand to metal center. Besides, antibacterial and antifungal studies were evaluated using agar-disk diffusion method against pathogenic strains.