Over four billion pounds of chicken feather waste is generated
by the US poultry industry each year. Although feathers are
typically treated as a waste, they possess characteristics of potential
interest for biopolymer production. Feathers are composed of
over 90% keratin, a fibrous and insoluble structural protein extensively
cross linked by disulfide bonds that is resistant to digestion
by animals, insects, and microbial proteases (Fraser and MacRae,
1980). Unfortunately, it is likely that the recalcitrance of feather
fiber will retard the biodegradation of feather-based bioplastic
materials.
The objective of this work was to characterize the biodegradation
of poultry feather fiber (PFF)- and polylactic acid (PLA)-based
bioplastics that were produced by extrusion and injection molding.
We evaluated the biodegradability of these bioplastics by measuring
carbon dioxide (CO2) produced during laboratory controlled
composting. We further determined which components of the bioplastics
were resistant to biodegradation using near infrared (NIR)
spectroscopy. This combined approach allows for assessment
of the overall biodegradability of these biomaterials and reveals
the differential degradation of their individual components during
composting.