Cellulosic nanomaterial production via fermentation by komagataeibacter sp. SFCB22-18 isolated from ripened persimmons

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) which is generally synthesized by several species of bacteria has a wide variety of industrial uses, particularly in the food and material industries. However, the low levels of BNC production during the fermentation process should be overcome to reduce its production cost. Therefore, in this study, we screened and identified a new cellulose-producing bacterium, optimized production of the cellulose, and investigated the morphological properties of the cellulosic materials. Out of 147 bacterial isolates from ripened fruits and traditional vinegars, strain SFCB22-18 showed the highest capacity for BNC production and was identified as Komagataeibacter sp. based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis. During 6-week fermentation of the strain using an optimized medium containing 3.0% glucose, 2.5% yeast extract, 0.24% acetic acid, 0.27% Na₂HPO₄, and 0.5% ethanol at 30°C, about 5 g/l of cellulosic material was produced. Both imaging and IR analysis proved that the produced cellulose would be nanoscale bacterial cellulose.