Ανάπτυξη βιοδιεργασίας παραγωγής προϊόντων υψηλής προστιθεμένης αξίας από απόβλητα παρασκευής χυμών πορτοκαλιού

Cellulose is considered as the most abundant biopolymer on earth constituting the largest part of the cell walls of plants. Cellulose can also be produced by microbial fermentation as bacterial cellulose (BC), which is of great research interest due to higher purity as compared to plant cellulose as well as certain physicochemical properties. The aim of this study was to develop a biorefinery from citrus peel waste (CPW) from the food industry for the production of BC. Specifically, orange peel waste from the citrus juice industry was used. Hestrin – Schramm (HS) media was used in fermentations, in which various commercial sources of carbon were examined as well as the influence of glucose concentration in the nutrient medium used. The microbial fermentation was carried out using the bacterial strain Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans DSMZ 15973 on a total duration of 15 days. The sugars glucose, sucrose, fructose, galactose and xylose were used as carbon sources for BC production, producing 1.73, 2.70, 2.04, 1.28 and 1.76 g/L of biomass respectively. In order to study the influence of carbon source concentration on the fermentation of the bacterial strain K. sucrofermentans, fermentations were carried out using various concentrations of glucose (20, 30, 40 and 60 g/L), achieving maximum production of 2.47 g/L at 30 g/L of sugar. Finally, the use of CPW as a nutrient substrate for fermentation was examined. It was preceded by pre-treatment of orange peels with dilute acid hydrolysis assisted by ultrasound, isolating 0.018% w/w d-limonene and 34.41% w/w pectin. The BC produced was 0.45 g/L with a productivity of 0.03 g/L∙d. In order to reduce the high cost of production BC and make its commercialization feasible, the rate of production should be improved during fermentation as well as the cost of the substrate should be reduced. The present study presents the potential of utilizing low cost raw CPW for industrial application of the process. ; Η κυτταρίνη βρίσκεται στο κυτταρικό τοίχωμα των φυτών και χαρακτηρίζετε ...