Produção e caracterização de celulose bacteriana obtida a partir do suco de caju

Abstract

The use of agro-industrial sources as alternative culture medium in fermentation processes, such as production of bacterial cellulose (BC), have attracted interest since they are low cost and this is a way of adding value to agro-industrial chains. Bacterial cellulose is a natural biopolymer that exhibit unique characters: fibers with nanoscale dimensions, high crystallinity degree and, high purity, providing a wide applicability and industrial interest. In this study was evaluated BC production by Gluconacetobacter hansenii ATCC 53582 using cashew juice. For CB production, the microorganism was cultivated statically for 10 days on standard synthetic medium, pure cashew juice and 3 different media with cashew juice and supplements. Purified BC films were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), XRay Diffraction (XRD), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). BC production in pure cashew juice was 2.3 g·L-1 corresponding to 52% of the production standard synthetic medium. In cashew apple juice media supplemented, the higher production (4.4 g·L-1) was obtained in medium with yeast extract, peptone, citric acid and, sodium phosphate, and this production was statistically similar to production in standard synthetic media. The characterizations of the films obtained in all media showed typical of bacterial cellulose.