Production and characterization of Gluconacetobacter xylinus bacterial cellulose using cashew apple juice and soybean molasses.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been largely used in biomedical and technological fields. The use of agro-industrial byproducts as alternative source of carbon and nitrogen in culture media reduces the BC cost production, adds value to the byproducts and minimizes the environmental impact. In this study, the use of cashew apple juice and soybean molasses were evaluated to produce BC by Gluconacetobacter xylinus in comparison to the usual Hestrin and Schramm medium (HS). BC produced in static cultivation was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The BC production (4.50 g L-1) obtained from the medium using cashew apple juice as carbon source (20 g L-1) with soybean molasses as nitrogen source (10 g L-1) was superior than HS medium (4.03 g L-1). Morphological analysis showed that bacterial celluloses produced with agro-industrial byproducts combined were similar to those found for the pellicle obtained from HS medium.