ABSTRACT
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a homopolymer and it is distinguished from plant-based cellulose by its unique properties such as high purity, high crystallinity, high water-holding capacity, and good biocompatibility. Microalgae are unicellular, photosynthetic microorganisms and are known to have high protein, starch, and oil content. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris was evaluated as source of glucose for the production of BC. To increase the starch content of algae the effect of nutrient starvation (nitrogen and sulfur) and light deficiency were tested in a batch assay. The starch contents (%) were 5.27 ± 0.04, 7.14 ± 0.18, 5.00 ± 0.08, and 1.35 ± 0.04 for normal cultivation, nitrogen starvation, sulfur starvation, and dark cultivation conditions, respectively. The performance of enzymatic and acidic methods was compared for the starch hydrolysis. This study demonstrated for the first time that acid hydrolysate of algal starch can be used to substitute glucose in the fermentation medium of Komagataeibacter hansenii for BC production. Glucose was used as a control for BC production. BC production yields on dry weight basis were 1.104 ± 0.002 g/L and 1.202 ± 0.005 g/L from algae-based glucose and glucose, respectively. The characterization of both BCs produced from glucose and algae-based glucose was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results have shown that the structural characteristics of algae-based BC were comparable to those of glucose-based BC.
