Bacterial cellulose production from beet molasses

Bacterial friendly cellulose is produced from beet molasses using Gluconacetobacter xylinus ATCC 10245. The yield of the bacterial cellulose (BC) produced from beet molasses was higher than that using glucose as a sole carbon source. The structure of BC produced in presence of beet molasses was studied using IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. IR spectra show the relative absorbance of C-O-C ether linkage (at 1120 cm-1) in BC using glucose has a relatively lower value than that from molasses. This indicates that BC produced from glucose has a relatively higher degree of polymerization. From X-ray pattern, no remarkable differences in crystallinity index of cellulose between the two media were recorded. © 2006 Academic Journals.