Utilization of Cassava Wastewater for Low-Cost Production of Prodigiosin via Serratia marcescens TNU01 Fermentation and Its Novel Potent α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Effect

The purpose of this study was to reuse cassava wastewater (CW) for scaled-up production, via the fermentation of prodigiosin (PG), and to conduct an evaluation of its bioactivities. PG was produced at the yield of high 6150 mg/L in a 14 L-bioreactor system, when the designed novel medium (7 L), containing CW and supplemented with 0.25% casein, 0.05% MgSO₄, and 0.1% K₂HPO₄, was fermented with Serratia marcescens TNU01 at 28 °C in 8 h. The PG produced and purified in this study was assayed for some medical effects and showed moderate antioxidant, high anti-NO (anti-nitric oxide), and potential α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Notably, PG was first reported as a novel effective α-glucosidase inhibitor with a low IC50 value of 0.0183 µg/mL. The commercial anti-diabetic drug acarbose was tested for comparison and had a lesser effect with a high IC50 value of 328.4 µg/mL, respectively. In a docking study, the cation form of PG (cation-PG) was found to bind to the enzyme α-glucosidase by interacting with two prominent amino acids, ASP568 and PHE601, at the binding site on the target enzyme, creating six linkages and showing a better binding energy score (−14.6 kcal/mol) than acarbose (−10.5 kcal/mol). The results of this work suggest that cassava wastewater can serve as a low-cost raw material for the effective production of PG, a potential antidiabetic drug candidate.