Luffa sponge offsets the negative effects of aeration on bacterial cellulose production.

Abstract

To offset the negative effects of aeration on bacterial cellulose (BC) production by acetic acid bacteria using enmeshed cellulose microfibrils (CM) on luffa sponge matrices (LSM). The CM were enmeshed on LSM (LSM-CM). The optimal amount of LSM-CM was determined for BC production under aerated conditions. Without LSM-CM, no BC was produced in seven out of nine production cycles at the highest aeration rate (9lmin-1 ). However, with 0·5% LSM-CM and an aeration rate of 3lmin-1 , a satisfactory oxygen transfer coefficient was achieved, and also a good yield of BC (5·24gl-1 ). Moreover, the LSM-CM was able to be recycled through nine consecutive BC production cycles. The highest BC yields (from 5·8±0·4 to 6·6±0·4gl-1 ) were associated with high bacterial biomass and this was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. We confirm that LSM-CM works well as a starter. Microenvironments low in dissolved oxygen within the matrices of LSM-CM are important for BC production under aeration conditions. The LSM-CM provides a microenvironment which offsets the negative effects of aeration on BC production. A sustainable, economic process for mass BC production is described using recycled LSM-CM with aeration.