ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Comparative Cradle-to-Gate LCA of Bio-
Indigo Production Processes - Conventional
Fermentation vs Enzymatic: Environmental
Sustainability and Economic Benchmarking
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1
Green Chemistry and Sustainability, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University,
Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
2
Research Centre for Bioorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University,
Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Submission date: 2025-03-19
Final revision date: 2025-05-11
Acceptance date: 2025-06-02
Online publication date: 2025-07-14
Corresponding author
Surachai Pornpakakul
Research Centre for Bioorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University,
Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
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ABSTRACT
Bio-indigo is one of the oldest natural dyes known for its classical blue hue and excellent
biocompatibility. Traditionally, bio-indigo is extracted from indigo plants via a conventional fermentation
process that suffers from low yield, poor quality, and long processing time. Current work presents an
enzymatic process using Trichoderma cellulase on Indigofera tinctoria (I. tinctoria) that experimentally
demonstrated bio-indigo yield enhancement to 12.6 g/kg, whereas conventional process yield is limited
to 6.4 g/kg. Comparative cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of bio-indigo production from
conventional fermentation and integrated enzymatic hydrolysis processes were performed for pathway
benchmarking. Environmental sustainability aspects for 14 environmental impact categories were
exemplified using CML 2001, EF 3.0, ReCiPe 2016, and TRACI 2.1 methodologies. Comprehensive LCA
using GaBi software demonstrated that the proposed enzymatic process had superior environmental
compliance. A lower product carbon footprint is the preference of both manufacturers and customers
today, and it can only be sought through environmentally friendly extraction processes. Results showed
that production via an enzymatic process, compared to conventional fermentation, has ~49% lower
environmental impact for almost all the assessed indicators. Additionally, the economic model indicated
promising profitability and viable insight into the production route, revealing that sustainable practices
can significantly enhance profitability.