Exploration of Lac agro-industry biowaste as antioxidant and food preservative for their sustainable waste management

The aim of this study was to explore the potential of Lac agro-industry alkali-stable, resinous biowaste as a source of natural antioxidants and food preservatives. Therefore, the gummy biowaste was purified by solvent–solvent partitioning followed by chemical modification with Jones reagent. The pure and oxidized gummy mass was characterized by FT-IR and NMR analysis. The antioxidant capacity of both pure and oxidized gummy mass was studied against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and the preservative ability was studied on tomato puree. Our results suggested that the pure and oxidized gummy mass scavenged ABTS and DPPH radicals at the examined dose. However, the oxidized gummy mass shows a better food preservative ability against the food-rotting microbes, Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus flavus , and Penicillium sp. at studies concentration of 2%. Furthermore, we hypothesized the hydrogen atom transfer and radical addition molecular mechanisms based on their chemical structure to explain their antioxidant capabilities, which is critical for suitable chemical modification for developing better antioxidants in future for potential therapeutic, food and other industrial applications.