A Novel Profiled Multi-Pin Electrospinning System for Nanofiber Production and Encapsulation of Nanoparticles into Nanofibers.

Electrospinning with various machine configurations is being used to produce polymer nanofibers with different rates of output. The use of polymers with high viscosity and the encapsulation of nanoparticles for achieving functionalities are some of the limitations of the existing methods. A profiled multi-pin electrospinning (PMES) setup is demonstrated in this work that overcomes the limitations in the needle and needleless electrospinning like needle clogging, particle settling, and uncontrolled/uneven Taylor cone formation, the requirement of very high voltage and uncontrolled distribution of nanoparticles in nanofibers. The key feature of the current setup is the use of profiled pin arrangement that aids in the formation of spherical shape polymer droplet and hence ensures uniform Taylor cone formation throughout the fiber production process. With a 10 wt% of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) polymer solution and at an applied voltage of 30 kV, the production rate was observed as 1.690 g/h and average fiber diameter obtained was 160.5 ± 48.9 nm for PVA and 124.9 ± 49.8 nm for Cellulose acetate (CA) respectively. Moreover, the setup also provides the added advantage of using high viscosity polymer solutions in electrospinning. This approach is expected to increase the range of multifunctional electrospun nanofiber applications.

A novel metalloprotease from banana peel and its biochemical characterization.

Protein cleaving enzymes, called proteases are one of the most commercially used enzymes possessing extensive applications in various industries. The present study was focused on screening, extraction, purification and characterization of protease from banana peel. Twelve different varieties of banana peels were screened for the protease activity. The maximum activity of the isolated enzyme was 230.4 CDU/mg from Nendran banana. The crude enzyme was purified up to 8.1 fold with the yield of 61.34%. The molecular weight of the purified fraction was found to be 40 kDa. The optimum conditions for maximum protease activity were achieved at 30 °C and pH 7. The Lineweaver-Burk plot exhibited the kinetic parameters of the enzyme such as Vmax and Km as 588.4 CDU/mg and 15.2 mg/ml respectively. The influence of different inhibitors, metal ions, organic solvents, detergents, oxidising agents and salinity were examined. The collagenolytic activity was tested with purified type I collagen as a substrate. The enzyme was tested for cell cytotoxicity, detection of apoptosis using fluorescent dyes and antitumor activity. The results demonstrated that protease from banana peel was of high significance and potential for usage in therapeutic for breaking down collagen/peptide bonds.