Physicochemical properties of bacterial cellulose obtained from different Kombucha fermentation conditions

Abstract : The production of bacterial cellulose has been limited due to its high cost and low productivity. Alternative low‐cost sources of this biopolymer of high purity and biocompatibility are needed in order to benefit from its enormous potential. Kombucha tea is a trend functional beverage whose production is growing exponentially worldwide, and the bacteria present in this fermented beverage belonging to the genus Komagataeibacter are capable of producing a crystalline biofilm with interesting properties. Obtaining bacterial cellulose from Kombucha tea has already been studied, however several fermentation conditions are being optimized in order to scale‐up its production. In this study, we characterized the bacterial cellulose produced from three different Kombucha fermentation conditions. The scanning electron microscopy images revealed the crystalline structure of the biofilms. The energy‐dispersive x‐ray analysis exhibited the chemical composition of the crystals. The thermogravimetric analysis showed a rate of degradation between 490 and 560°C and the differential scanning calorimetry confirmed the presence of crystalline and amorphous regions in the bacterial cellulose samples. The results suggested that crystalline cellulose could be obtained by varying the fermentation conditions of Kombucha tea.