The influence of culture medium components on the physical and mechanical properties of cellulose synthesized by kombucha microorganisms

Abstract

Preliminary studies are presented showing to what extent nutrients available in the growth environment of Kombucha microorganisms affect the physical and mechanical properties of synthesized cellulose. With an increase in the amount of sucrose in the growth medium and with the presence of additional nutrients, peptone and tea extract, the thickness and strength of the biopolymer increased, while elongation was reduced. The best physical and mechanical parameters were obtained for bacterial cellulose from cultures with the addition of 10% sucrose and 0.25% peptone content. The increase in elongation correlated with the decrease in the degree of polymerization, which means that in media rich in nutrients, the number of molecules building the polymer decreases. The presented data is important in order to select ingredients that will help synthesize bacterial cellulose with the desired physio-mechanical properties.

Shedding Light on the Formation and Structure of Kombucha Biofilm Using Two-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy

“…This could result from the difference in the inoculation method, with only addition of cells in the case of pure cultures as opposed to the addition of 12% (v/v) of kombucha from a previous batch in the other case. The resources of nitrogen, quantitatively and qualitatively, were probably different, and the absence of ethanol could play a role in the rate of cellulose production ( Nguyen et al, 2008 ; Mamlouk and Gullo, 2013 ; Betlej et al, 2020 ). Another hypothesis would lie in the presence of microbial interactions that come with the use of a consortium.…”

“…Several of those putative functions of cellulosic biofilms are suspected to be applicable to kombucha pellicle and to play an important role in microbial interaction ( May et al, 2019 ). Very little investigation has been carried out about the kombucha pellicle, especially through the lens of spatial organization and microbial interactions ( Mayser et al, 1995 ; Goh et al, 2012 ; Zhu et al, 2014 ; Coton et al, 2017 ; Sharma and Bhardwaj, 2019 ; Betlej et al, 2020 ). The study of Coton et al (2017) reported differences in microbial composition in the proportion of genera between the liquid phase and the biofilms for yeasts and bacteria using a non-culture dependent method, thus highlighting the impact of two different environments in terms of planktonic and sessile state or oxygen and nutrient access on microbial dynamics ( Coton et al, 2017 ).…”

Influence of SCOBY microorganisms’ cultivation conditions on the synthesis efficiency and selected qualities of bacterial cellulose

“…Due to the fact that bacterial cellulose of different thickness was obtained on different culture media used in the study, an attempt was made to explain the actual factor that determines the gloss of cellulose. Since in previous studies it was found that with a high sucrose content in the substrate and the addition of nutrient-rich ingredients, significantly thicker polymer layers are obtained (Betlej et al 2020), attempts were made to assess whether the actual factor affecting the gloss of cellulose is its thickness or the composition of the substrate on which the polymer is synthesized. The evaluation of the correlation between the polymer thickness and its gloss made it possible to state that there was a very high relationship between the indicated features (Fig.…”

“…The content and specific proportions of nutrients in the culture medium determine the efficiency of the cellulose synthesis process. Simple and readily available nutrients, such as tea extract or peptone, with the optimal amount of the carbon source, allow for good polymer synthesis efficiency; this is additionally characterized by a greater thickness of the film (Betlej et al 2020) and better mechanical parameters (Yim et al 2017). Undoubtedly, taking into account the intended use of bacterial cellulose, it is worth analyzing how the properties and characteristics of the polymer produced under certain conditions interact with each other.…”

Electrical potential spiking of kombucha zoogleal mats

“…First, the zooglea mats has attracted interest from sustainable fashion and textile industry, because the mats’ properties are similar to properties of clothing materials [19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. Some future applications of the mats might require some loci of a mat to remain alive for sensing purposes, where chemical, tactile or optical stimuli will be mapped onto patterns of electrical activity.…”