Co-culture fermentation on the production of bacterial cellulose nanocomposite produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii
Hetian Hu, Jeffrey M. Catchmark, Ali Demırcı
Abstract
Bacterial cellulose (BC1) is a biomaterial produced by various strains of microorganisms. BC has improved strength and unique structural properties as compared to plant cellulose, thus has many usages in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In our previous study, a novel co-culture agitated fermentation of Komagataeibacter hansenii, a BC producer, with Aureobasidium pullulans, a producer of pullulan polysaccharide, had been demonstrated where the BC produced exhibited improved mechanical properties. Therefore, this study is undertaken to analyze BC production under different medium composition using response surface methodology (RSM) in shake-flasks and benchtop bioreactors. A verified local high point provided 22.4% higher BC production and 4.5- to 6- folds higher elastic moduli in shake-flasks and bioreactors compared to the baseline media. Overall, the study had revealed the potential of the co-culturing method to enhance BC production while maintaining the desired mechanical properties of BC produced in shake-flasks and larger scale bioreactors.