By-products of the cider production: an alternative source of nutrients to produce bacterial cellulose

Abstract

In the present work a culture process to produce bacterial cellulose (BC) using by-products of the cider production from the Basque Country was investigated. The apple pomace was mixed with sugar cane (AR/SC medium) and the mixture was found to be a potential carbon source for Gluconacetobacter medellinensis strain ID13488 since higher cellulose production was observed with respect to the commercial Hestrin and Shramm medium (H–S). The culture media were characterized in terms of pH, oxygen and sugars consumption. The expression level of the operon bcs (genes involved in BC biosynthesis) in apple residue containing medium respect to standard H–S medium was determined. It was found that in AR/SC medium the expression levels of bcsA gene, wich is the first gene of the bcs operon, was increased in 1.5-fold respect to the H–S media which correlates with the fact that BC production in AR/SC media is higher than in H–S media. The physico-chemical and mechanical properties, microstructure, crystallinity and water holding capacity of the biosynthesized BC membranes were analyzed and it was found that, in general, the BC obtained from AR/SC medium presented superior properties than that obtained from H–S medium. In this study an economic method for BC production is proposed with suitable properties for many applications.