Bacterial cellulose production from agroindustrial residues

A. VAZQUEZ; M.L. FORESTI; P. CERRUTTI; M.A. GALVAGNO

Bogota

Simposio; SLAP 2012 - XIII Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros; 2012

Universidad de los Andes

Bacterial cellulose pellicles were produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinus using non conventional low-cost carbon sources, such as glycerol remaining from biodiesel production and grape bagasse, a residue of wine production. The carbon sources assayed showed their suitability for microbial cellulose production, with relatively high production values such as 10 g/l for the culture medium with glycerol from biodiesel as carbon source and corn steep liquor as nitrogen source; and 8 g/l for the culture medium containing grape bagasse and corn steep liquor. The bacterial celluloses produced were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The study performed showed the suitability of using wine residues or glycerol remaining from increasing biodiesel production as cheap carbon sources for production of bacterial cellulose microfibrils, with similar morphological and structural characteristics as those obtained by use of more expensive carbon sources such as glucose or commercial glycerol.