Utilization of marine algae as a carbon source for bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received attention due to its many advantages such as high mechanical strength, purity, crystallinity, liquid-absorbing capabilities, and biodegradability. The most discrepancy associated with BC production is its high cost which higher than the plant cellulose. So, the present study was aimed to improve BC production by using reducing sugar from algae as a cheaper carbon source. Replacing glucose with 20 g/l of reducing sugars extracted from P. oceanic increased BC yield to about 5.7g/l, which is higher than on glucose (3.7 g/l). The maximum BC production was obtained at an incubation temperature of 30°C and pH 6.5. According to experimental results of Plackett-Burman design and the steepest ascent methods, the optimal medium for BC production was (g/l); reducing sugar, 30; yeast extract, 7; peptone, 7; Na2HPO4, 7.2; citric acid, 0.2, pH 6, for 15 days of incubation at 30°C under static condition. The produced BC was examined and characterized by SEM, FT-IR Spectroscopy analysis, and XRD. This is may be the first report on the optimization of the fermentation medium using marine algal extract as the carbon source for the highest BC production (12.7g/l) by G. xylinus ATCC 10245.