Bacterial cellulose production through hydrolysates produced with cellulosic residues

Abstract

In the paper industry, significant fraction of fibers that cannot be reutilized are wasted by the paper companies, which raise economic and environmental concerns. An increasing demand of bacterial cellulose (BC) has been noticed in the last years. In order to ally the recycling of lignocellulosic residues and the production of bacterial cellulose, Recycled paper sludge (RPS) and rejected fibers (EUR) were enzymatically hydrolyzed to obtain sugar hydrolysates, which were used for BC production. Exploratory assay (different strains and nitrogen sources) was performed with RPS and EUR hydrolysates. RPS hydrolysate showed to be an interesting an alternative carbon source for G. hansenii (5 g/L of BC) and EUR hydrolysate showed potential as carbon source for G. xylinum (4-5 g/L of BC). Overall, the results suggest that RPS and EUR residues have potential to be alternatives of carbon source for BC production, after a further optimization of the BC production and the enzymatic hydrolysis.