Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a highly crystalline and mechanically stable nanopolymer, which has e... more Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a highly crystalline and mechanically stable nanopolymer, which has excellent potential as a material in many novel applications, especially if it can be produced in large amounts from an inexpensive feedstock. Traditionally, BC is produced from expensive culture media, containing glucose as carbon source and other nutrient sources resulting in very high production costs, which limits the use of this material to very high value added applications. The use of cheap carbon and nutrient sources is an interesting strategy to overcome this limitation and therefore to increase the competitiveness of this unique material. Waste papers as well as coconut water, rich source of carbon is used for economical production of BC. In this study, the possibility to combine production of BC and hydrolytic enzymes from waste was investigated. Bacterial cellulose and enzymes were produced through sequential saccharification and fermentations with the filamentous mixed fungal cultures and the bacterium Gluconacetobacter xylinus. The BC yield in paper hydrolysate based medium reached 7.2 g/l and in coconut water medium reached 8.3 g/l after 4 days of cultivation but in medium containing mixture of coconut water and paper hydrolysate the BC yield was increased to 10 g/l. The cellulase enzyme was produced from bacterial cellulose production medium and was found to be 1.02 U/ml. It was shown that waste paper as well as coconut water is a suitable raw material for production of bacterial cellulose and enzymes through sequential fermentation. The concept studied offers efficient utilization of the various waste materials and affords a possibility to combine production of two high valueadded materials.
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Papers by Francis John V