Improvement of Medium Formula for Bacterial Cellulose Production and Its Scale-Up Potential

Some strains of Acetobacter produce a gelatinous membrane called pellicle or bacterial cellulose (BC) at the surface of liquid culture. BC is also called as “Nata de Coco”, a traditional fermented food in southeast Asia. Coconut-water is regarded as a waste from the copra process, the cost is low and easily to obtain. Although in these areas using mature coconut water to produce nata de coco obtained a good yield of pellicle was obtained, the shortage of coconut water is always affecting the stability of production. The main reason causes the shortage of coconut-water is dry season. The object of this research is using Acetobacter xylinum PY1 as a starter to find new substrates with low cost and the quality of BC pellicle produced must be similar to the product which fermented from coconut-water. The results showed that the composition of the substrate which has the highest cellulose pellicle yield was using the ratio of CSL medium to coconut water at was 4:1(v/v). To the above medium, supplements consisted of sucrose (5%), corn steep liquor (4%), and ammonium acetate (3.75%). In fact, 7% sucrose gave the best yield; followed by 5% sucrose but the contribution of adding 7% sucrose is lower than that of 5%. The pH of medium was adjusted to initial pH 4.0, and incubated at 30℃ for 10 days; highest yield of cellulose pellicle was obtained. The cellulose pellicle productivity did not increased by adding organic acids, but presence of 0.5% and 1% acetic acid could enhance the water capacity of cellulose pellicle