Production, Characterization and Analysis of Melanin from Isolated Marine Pseudomonas sp. using Vegetable waste

Melanin pigment from natural sources like microorganisms was an attractive choice for commercial scale production. In this study, marine bacterium capable of melanin production on marine broth/agar was isolated and identified as Pseudomonas sp. (closely related to guinea) on phenotypic characterization. Melanin production activity of the isolate was studied in liquid mediums such as pure marine broth and vegetable cabbage waste. In pure marine broth, melanin yield was ~5.35 mg/mL and pigment production was absent in pure vegetable waste. However in the presence of marine broth (as starter culture) melanin yield increased to ~2.79 mg/mL. This indicates melanin production may be initiated austerely by marine broth. Pigment from the bacterium was purified and characterized using UV-visible and FTIR analysis. The morphology and size of the bacterium was visualized in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the pigment nature was identified by SEM/EDX analysis. The results indicated that the synthesized melanin was very near to synthetic dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)-melanin in all aspects and possess antioxidant activity.