New Approach for Observation of Bacterial Cellulose Sheet Formation Method using Image Processing

Abstract

The thickness of the bacterial cellulose (BC) sheet is an important parameter that determines the end of the fermentation process. During the fermentation process, BC sheets produced will be visually visible. Commonly, the end of the fermentation process is determined using manual observation based on fermentation time and approximation of BC thickness which are subjective and susceptible to error especially for routine and large samples. To overcome those limitations, a new approach for accurate and real-time observation system to monitor the formation of BC thickness is developed in this research. The system can perform several tasks from image capturing and processing, image conversion to BC thickness, until data collection. The system is also able to send notification of fermentation conditions including BC thickness through the email system during the fermentation process regularly. The system consists of USB camera to capture image, the Python programming language to process image, and Raspberry Pi 3 installed with MySQL database to store the BC thickness data. Thickness calculation algorithm is compiled using python programming language and has succeeded in calculating various thickness of BC sheets during the fermentation process every 15 minutes for 8 days. The BC thickness data is automatically sent to the MySQL database and at the same time sent to user’s email.

Implementation of real-time image processing on bacterial cellulose formation using soybean-boiled wastewater with the variation of carbon sources during fermentation

“…The most commonly used BC formation medium is coconut water [6,7,8]. Furthermore, wastewater can also be used as a BC formation medium, such as liquid waste from sugarcane processing during the jaggery [9], juice from Japanese pear, orange, apple, grape, and pineapple waste [10], waste beer yeast [11], rice wine distillation wastewater [12], liquid waste from tofu production [13], and soybean-boiled wastewater from tempeh production [14].…”

“…Ruka et al [16] stated that of the various types of carbon sources, sucrose, mannitol, and glucose are carbon sources that produce consistently high yields of cellulose, regardless of the medium composition used. Other variables affecting BC formation besides carbon and nitrogen sources include BC layer thickness [7], fermentation time [19,20], pH [20,21], temperature [21], and turbidity conditions [22].…”

“…The fermentation commonly takes 6-8 days [7]. Traditionally, the observation of the formation of the BC during the fermentation is carried out after the fermentation has been completed by opening the lid of the tray and lifting a layer of BC to determine the thickness.…”

“…This step aims to ascertain how much the BC has expanded as a result of the fermentation [6]. Nugroho et al [7] revealed a new observation method using real-time image processing (RTIP). In addition, Poka et al [23] stated that the observation using RTIP was determined through edge detection.…”