A comparison of kombucha SCOBY bacterial cellulose purification methods

Abstract

Kombucha SCOBY pellicle formed as a waste product in the kombucha tea fermentation industry can be used as a potential source for bacterial cellulose. We have compared four simple, scalable purification methods for the purification of this jelly like cellulosic matrix containing bacteria, yeast cells, proteins and polyphenols as impurities. The method using two successive 1.0 M NaOH washings at 90 °C, followed by the treatment with 1.5% (w/w) aq. NaOCl for 2 h, was the most effective method and gave the purified cellulose sample with the highest leucometer whiteness value of 81.4 ± 4.8. The purified cellulose samples were analyzed using FT-IR, TGA, SEM, EDX, X-ray and water absorption at room temperature.

Kombucha fermentation using commercial kombucha pellicle and culture broth as starter

“…In Korea, kombucha refers to a black tea fungus and also to a fermented beverage obtained by symbiotic fermentation (bacteria and yeast) of the main raw materials of black tea and sugar (Lee & Kim, 2000). Kombucha is a healthy carbonated beverage made by fermenting sugar with SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) in extracts such as green/black tea (Amarasekara et al, 2020). SCOBY is a culture product of bacteria and yeast used in the manufacturing of various foods and beverages such as kombucha, vinegar, sourdough, and kefir (Gallegos et al, 2016;Laureys et al, 2020).…”

Production of Microbial Cellulose Films from Green Tea (Camellia Sinensis) Kombucha with Various Carbon Sources

“…These differences could be associated with the presence of trace components, which may be present in lower amounts in the kombucha starter culture [37,41]. A significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed between the days 0 and 6 of storage in the values of total sugars in all treatments, and for both consortia; this effect may be associated with the consumption of the different carbon sources during the fermentation process [7,46]. However, between days 6-12 and 6-9, a significant increase (p < 0.05) was observed in the total sugars content of COr, and CFr, respectively, followed by a decrease towards days 12-15 (Figure 1).…”

“…Green tea is considered a suitable fermentation medium due to its content of polyphenols (catechins), flavonoids, (quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin), proteins, and amino acids, among other components [4,5]. During the fermentation process of kombucha tea, a solid polymeric film is formed at the air-liquid interface of the culture medium [2,6]; this film is composed by a polymeric matrix of 2 of 14 microbial cellulose (MCF) and by the symbiotic consortium of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY), also known as tea fungus [7]. Populations of microorganisms that are part of SCOBY, include different bacteria such as Komagataeibacter xylinus, Acetobacter aceti, Acetobacter pasteurianus, and Gluconobacter oxydans, and yeasts such as Brettanomyces, Zygosaccharomyces, and Saccharomyces [8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…The main obstacle in the production of low-cost and large-scale microbial cellulose is the low conversion rate of sugars (culture medium) into cellulose [20]. The most widely used synthetic medium for the production of microbial cellulose is Hestrin-Schramm (HS), this culture medium is characterized by the presence of glucose as the only carbon source [21]; however, different studies have focused on the evaluation of other carbon sources such as maltose, fructose, cellobiose, mannitol, xylose, saccharose, and galactose in order to increase the production yield of MCFs [3,7,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. On the other hand, various studies have also focused on the use of substrates with high sugar content, such as residues of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages [29][30][31][32] and tobacco residues [33], as low-cost alternatives.…”

Use of bacterial cellulose in the textile industry and the wettability challenge—a review

“…One of the ways to produce BC is in the production of kombucha, a probiotic drink which, according to the earliest records, originated in northeastern China in mid-220 AD. It appeared during the Chin dynasty, when a Korean doctor called '' Kombu '' used the "che" for treatments, thus originating the name Kombuchá (Amarasekara et al 2020). After the Second World War, the use of Kombucha became popular in Western countries due to its multiple functional properties, and the drink subsequently spread worldwide (Dima et al 2017;Dutta and Paul 2019;Pei et al 2020).…”