Effect of Molasses on bacterial cellulose production of acetobacter pasteurianus ps strain

In this study, amounts of bacterial cellulose (BC) production and qualitative properties of this cellulose produced by Acetobacter pasteurianus Ps strain isolated from vinegar obtained from grape (Niğde) at different molasses concentrations were investigated. Five different concentrations of molasses (2.0 g/L, 5.0 g/L, 10.0 g/L, 20.0 g/L, and 40.0 g/L) as the carbon sources were used. The effect of molasses on BC production and the quality of BC, were examined. SEM images, FT-IR, and TGA analyses were performed to determine the quality of BC formed because of the experiment. While the BC production increased until 20.0 g/L molasses, BC production decreased after higher concentrations of molasses. It was observed that lower amounts of BC were produced in the molasses modified media compared to the HS medium used as a control. According to the SEM result of the produced BC, it is seen that the surface morphology is a porous tight structure and it has the form of cellulose fibers. The cellulose purity of BC was also demonstrated by the FTIR results. According to the thermogravimetric analysis, it is seen that the maximum degradation in BC samples produced in molasses medium is around 200 oC and 300 oC at most. Two distinct degradations were detected in the BS samples produced in the medium with a molasses concentration of 10 g/L and above. It was observed that the impurities in BC increased as the molasses concentration increased in the medium.