Abstract Description

The increase in the world's population is a major challenge in several sectors, particularly in public health, with the emergence of infectious diseases. The plant world offers a much-needed source in terms of under-exploited resources, such as banana plantation waste (biomass). As part of our study, we have focused on banana tree waste (leaves and pseudo-stems), which has been under-exploited until now, in order to explore its potential in terms of biomolecule extraction, more specifically proteins, which play a major role in the immune system and are therefore a powerful ally in the fight against pathogenic microbes. We synthesized various metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) from three metal salts (CuCl2.H2O, AgNO3, and ZnBr2) and characterized them using various methods - UV-Vis, DLS, SEM-EDX, PXRD, and TGA. From the synthesized MNPs, we optimized the extraction of the proteins mobilized onto their surface and compared the effect of each metal ion on protein extraction. The extracted proteins were quantified using the Bradford method and identified using SDS-PAGE. The MNPs showed a characteristic peak around 400 nm on UV-Vis, confirming successful formation of MNPs. Particle sizes were smaller than 100 nm and were shown to be crystalline on PXRD and SEM, and their thermostability was over 250 °C, confirming the successful synthesis of MNPs. The optimized extraction process with extracted proteins from AgNPs showed a yield of 55% - higher than that of the other MNPs. The extracted protein yield from liquid plant extracts alone was 22%. As a result, MNPs demonstrated the potential to immobilize sufficient proteins on their surface that can be easily recovered. Currently, studies are underway to establish a solid database and conduct tests on the enzymatic activities that these proteins may display in order to suggest future applications in drug discovery.