The Contribution of High Molecular Lignosulfonate to the Powerful Bacterial Cellulose Production System with Acetobacter xylinum ATCC 10245.

Abstract

To confirm the contribution of high molecular lignosulfonate to a powerful cellulose production system with Acetobacter xylinum, the commercial sulfite pulping waste fraction (CP powder) which led to high cellulose productivity was divided into a high and a low molecular lignosulfonate fractions which contained different quantities of carbohydrate by the sequential ethanol precipitation method. The culture media with the high molecular lignosulfonate fraction showed better cellulose membrane yields than those with the low molecular carbohydrate rich fraction or the whole CP powder. The more the high molecular lignosulfonate fracttion was purified, the more the efficiency for cellulose production increased. This means that the purification to eliminate both carbohydrates and low molecular fraction is effective. The prominent cellulose productivity was also observed by the addition of either sodium or calcium lignosulfonates on the market, which indicates that the high molecular lignosulfonate in CP powder is the dominant contributor for the high cellulose productivity. In order to clarify the contribution of the dispersing nature of the lignosulfonate, the effects of synthetic dispersant and natural digitonin were also investigated but they showed only a little effect.