Characteristics of acidic hydrothermal treatment for disintegration of spiramycin fermentation residue and degradation of residual antibiotics

[Display omitted] •AHT effectively promotes the disintegration and solubilization of SFR.•The residual SPM in SFR can be completely removed by AHT.•Coexisting organic substances significantly hinder the SPM degradation.•Intermediate products of SPM have lower antibacterial activity and mutagenicity. To recycle the nutrients in spiramycin (SPM) fermentation residue (SFR) through biological methods, acid hydrothermal treatment (AHT) was employed as pretreatment to enhance SFR biodegradability. The results showed that the degradation rate of residual SPM in SFR reached 100% after 120 min at 100℃ and 0.30 M acid with a 30.5% and 89.7% increase in proteins and polysaccharides, respectively. The SPM degradation was faster at higher acidity and temperature. However, elevated SPM concentration and the presence of protein, humic acid, and polysaccharide inhibited SPM degradation. The disintegration of SFR was evidenced by changes in its microstructure and could be predicted through the release of dissolved organic matter. Eight major SPM intermediates were identified with lower mutagenicity and antibacterial activity testing against Staphylococcus aureus. These results demonstrate that AHT not only disintegrates SFR but also degrades the residual SPM antibiotics, which implies the possibility for practical applications.