Effect of production process scale-up on the characteristics and properties of bacterial nanocellulose obtained from overripe Banana culture medium

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers 2020-07, Vol.240, p.116341, Article 116341
• Main Authors: Molina-Ramírez, Carlos, Cañas-Gutiérrez, Ana, Castro, Cristina, Zuluaga, Robin, Gañán, Piedad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetobacteraceae - chemistry; Acetobacteraceae - metabolism; Bacterial nanocellulose; Banana agro-food waste; Bioreactors; BNC morphological changes; BNC scale-up production; Cellulose - biosynthesis; Cellulose - chemistry; Culture Media - chemistry; Culture Media - metabolism; Fermentation; Musa - chemistry; Nanostructures - chemistry; Overripe banana
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116341

•Scale-up modified the nanofiber morphology inside the membrane.•A confinement phenomenon allows to produce wider nanofibers.•The porosity of BC membrane can be changed by scale-up. In this study, the effect of bioreactor size was evaluated with respect to the production and characteristics of the nanocellulose membranes produced by two different bioreactors: one with an 1800 cm2 cross-sectional area (BC-B44) and a lab-scale bioreactor with a 41 cm2 cross-sectional area (BC-B1). The culture conditions were kept the same, and the substrate consisted of overripe bananas, which are inexpensive because they are unsuitable for human consumption. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the two samples had similar crystalline structures, but changes were observed at the morphological level in the nanofibers that make up the BNC membranes. These changes generated, in turn, variations in the mechanical and thermal properties of the samples. This result represents a novel scale-up effect related to the static mode fermentation of BNC.