Austrian scientist have get wind that bacterium present in cows ’ digestive systems can break down plastic and it has the potential to become a powerful way to help thin plastic contamination . These early findings were reported in the journalFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology .
A moo-cow ’s diet already contains instinctive industrial plant polyester , so the team was confident that there is some mechanics within their stomach that is able to conduct polyester hydrolysis , a chemic reaction that fracture down such material . The line of thought was : if they can tear these biologic polyesters apart , can they do the same for artificial ones ?
" A immense microbic community of interests lives in the rumen reticulum and is responsible for for the digestion of nutrient in the fauna , " corresponding author Dr Doris Ribitsch , of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna , said in astatement . " So we suspected that some biologic activities could also be used for polyester hydrolysis . "
Once the team key out these bacteria in the rumen ( one of the four compartment of a cow ’s belly ) they tested their power to divulge down polythene terephthalate , or PET , the most common thermoplastic resin in the polyester family . They also tested two other types of plastic . One was polybutylene adipate terephthalate or PBAT , commonly used in compostable plastic bags . The other wasPolyethylene furanoate , PEF , which is made from lettuce deduce from plants .
Samples of these three plastic were locate in an incubate first stomach liquid . The plastic was either turn into a powder or into a formative motion picture . The outcome are certainly exciting – all three plastics were get around down with no problem . Powders were break down faster than moving picture , which is hardly surprising pass on that chemical substance chemical reaction lean to encounter faster as the surface domain of the reactant increase .
The team noticed that the reactions with the first stomach liquid were more effective compared to inquiry that looked at a individual microorganism to break plastics apart . The team believes that the surround of the rumen liquid might be more conducive to the project . The degradation of the charge card might be down to the study of multiple enzymes go at meridian conditions thanks to the first stomach liquid property .
" Due to the large amount of rumen that roll up every day in slaughterhouse , upscaling would be easy to ideate , " Dr Ribitsch excuse .
But the team warns that this discovery is a first step , not a full - scale approach to the job of formative pollution . While the liquid state can break down plastic , recycling might be an easier option , or there could be a different method acting that might be cheaper in the long full term .
The squad will continue to investigate this plan of attack , as well as looking for how microbial community can be employ for more eco - well-disposed industrial cognitive operation .
