Production of BC
Cheese whey is a by-product produced during cheese production and it contains lactose and other carbohydrates (glucose, galactose, lactose, and arabinose). In addition, whey has high biological value because it contains various proteins, amino acids, vitamins and organic acids (Revin et al 2018). Because cheese whey is a simple, inexpensive and abundant medium, it can be used as the basal culture medium for BC production. Therefore, in this study, BC was produced in cheese whey medium. The obtained BC pellicles were purified, weighed after lyophilization and its yield was calculated as g/L. In Fig. 1 (a-c), the steps of BC production in cheese whey medium could be seen.
Optimization of Culture Conditions for BC Production
The optimization of culture conditions is very important for production of high amount of BC pellicles. Different factors such as incubation time, temperature, pH, and carbon and nitrogen sources were tested in order to obtain the highest yield of BC. Firstly, the effect of incubation time on BC production was determined. As shown Fig. 2a, the maximum yield was obtained at the 10th day. While 1.59 g/L BC pellicle was obtained at the 3th day, it was 3.16 g/L for 10 days of incubation at 30°C, statically.
Type and amount of carbon and nitrogen sources in the culture medium are also effective on the BC production (Szymańska-Chargot et al, 2011). The carbon source is an essential component that enhances cell growth and metabolism during BC synthesis (Yim et al, 2017). Therefore, glucose, fructose and sucrose were added into cheese whey media at different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 g/40 mL) for testing their possible effect on BC production and cultures were incubated at 30°C for 10 days (Fig. 2b). Glucose addition positively affected the BC production activity of this bacterium. Fructose addition also induced the BC production but sucrose addition resulted in low BC production. The highest BC amount was obtained from the medium containing of 0.5 g glucose per 40 mL cheese whey as 5.62 g/L (Fig. 2b). Therefore, 0.5 g glucose in 40 mL medium was determined as the best carbon amount for BC production. Mikkelsen et al. (2009) aimed to increase the BC cellulose yield of Gluconacetobacter xylinus strain ATCC 53524 by modifying the HS medium. For this purpose, HS media were prepared with the addition of different inducers and the BC yield was calculated at 48 and 96 hours. While the highest BC yield was 1.89 g/L at 48th hour in HS medium with an initial pH of 5.0 to which glucose was added, this value was determined as 3.10 g/L at 96th hour. Rangaswamy et al. (2005), on the other hand, tested the effect of different carbon sources on BC yield, in HS medium. It was reported that Gluconacetobacter sp produces approximately 1.35 g/L BC in HS medium containing 2% (w/v) glucose. In the study of Trovatti et al (2011) in which BC production was tested with Gluconacetobacter sacchari in HS medium containing different carbon sources such as glucose, sucrose, and fructose, the highest BC efficiency was obtained at the end of 96 hours in HS medium with glucose (2.7 g/L).
Temperature is also an important factor for high product formation (Fernandes et al, 2020). In order to determine the effect of temperature for BC production, different temperature values at the range of 25–35°C were tested. As shown in Fig. 2c, the optimum temperature for BC production was 30°C and the BC value obtained at this temperature was 7.63 g/L. Revin et al. (2018) tested the BC production of Gluconacetobacter sucrofermentans B-11267 in cheese whey medium (without pH adjustment) and they determined the highest BC yield as 5.45 g/L after 3 days of incubation at 28°C and 250 rpm. The maximum BC production of Acetobacter pasteurianus RSV-4 (MTCC 25117) in the whey medium was 5.6 g/L at 30°C after 8 days incubation (Kumar et al. 2021). On the other hand, Carreira et al. (2011) reported very low BC production 0.08 g/L in the whey medium.
Initial pH is an important factor for BC production. Therefore, pHs of the cheese whey media containing 0.5 g glucose were adjusted to the range of pH 3.0–9.0 and the effect pH on BC production was tested (Fig. 2d). As the pH increased, the amount of BC obtained also increased. As shown Fig. 2d the highest BC amount was 13.18 g/L at pH 7.0. No BC formation observed at pH 3.0. and pH 9.0. Jozala et al. (2015) used various culture media such as HS, rotten fruit and milk whey for BC production. In their study, they tested the effect of pH on BC yield and obtained optimum BC yields at different pH values between 3.2 and 5.4 according to the culture medium they used.
Nitrogen constitutes 8–14% of the dry weight of bacteria and is the main component of proteins required for cell metabolism (Chawla et al, 2009). However, nitrogen sources did not show any positive effect on BC production activity of the bacterium (Fig. 2e).
The optimal medium and the optimum culture conditions for high amount of BC production was determined as 10 days incubation time, 30°C temperature, 7.0 pH and 0.5 g glucose in 40 mL cheese whey medium.
Immobilization of yeast cells on BC
BC can be a good support for cell immobilization thanks to its high crystallinity, high water holding capacity, porous structure, better mechanical properties and biocompatibility (Żywicka et al 2019). As a support, BC can be used for the immobilization of various enzymes, as well as for the immobilization of industrially important microorganisms such as yeasts (Żywicka et al 2016; Żywicka et al 2019). Therefore, in this study, BC produced by G. xylinus in cheese whey medium under optimized conditions was used as a support for the immobilization of S. cerevisiae and Fig. 3 shows the microscopic images of lyophilized BC without yeast and S. cerevisiae immobilized BC samples stained with the simple staining method.
Chemical, morphological and thermal characterization of pure and yeast-immobilized BC samples
Figure 4 shows the Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of the pure cellulose samples obtained from the cheese whey medium. SEM analysis of BC was performed with lyophilized BC pellicle under 20000 × and 40000 × magnifications. From the SEM images, it could be seen that the BC pellicle had a reticulated structure. The average fibril diameter of the pure cellulose sample obtained from the cheese whey medium was measured as 123.7 nm. Revin et al. (2018) reported the width of the microfibrils obtained from the whey medium as 100–180 nm. Furthermore, yeast cells immobilized on cellulose were also proven by SEM images (Fig. 5).
Structural characterizations of pure cellulose and yeast-immobilized cellulose samples were determined by Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometer.
Obtained infrared spectra were given in Fig. 6 comparatively. In the spectrum of pure cellulose structure, a wide H bonds band of free -OH group on the cellulose units was seen in the range of 3000–3600 cm− 1. Aliphatic C-H peaks in cellulose units were observed in the range of 2830–2950 cm− 1. Main chain C-C stretching vibration was observed at 1580 cm− 1. The etheric C-O-C stretching vibration in the cellulose structures was detected as a severe peak at 1057 cm− 1. In addition, CH stretching vibration at 888 cm− 1 and CH out-of-plane bending vibration at 559 cm− 1 confirmed the obtained structure.
Figure 6 shows the FTIR spectrum of the yeast-immobilized cellulose samples. Along with the binding of yeast structures, on this spectrum, a sharp peak originating from protein structures was observed at approximately 1750 cm− 1. In addition, the effect of yeast structures on the spectrum was observed on the aliphatic methyl and H bonds peaks. Methyl bond strength increased, but H bond strength decreased. The peaks were observed more broadly. All these findings prove that the desired structure was obtained.
The crystallinity of the obtained cellulose structures
The degree of crystallinity of the obtained cellulose structures and the effects of yeast structures on the crystal system were examined with X-ray spectra. Obtained X-ray spectra were given in Fig. 7. When the X-ray spectrum of the pure BC structure was examined, although it has an amorphous appearance, the crystalline peaks were clearly seen in the structure. Due to the cellulose structure, the 100 and 110 peaks, which are the main cellulose peaks, were clearly seen, especially at 15° and 22° 2θ values (Leal et al 2021; Salari et al 2019). In addition, a wide band originating from amorphous regions was observed at 19.48°. On the other hand, in the X-ray spectrum obtained from the cellulose sample with yeast structure, a more amorphous image appeared in which the crystalline structures were partially lost. This is due to the yeast covering the crystalline regions on the surface, and the change in this spectrum proves the existence of the yeast structure.
In order to visualize the yeast layers on the surface in more detail, AFM images of pure cellulose and yeast-immobilized cellulose surfaces were obtained at different magnifications (Fig. 8). When the AFM images of the pure cellulose structure were examined, the cellulose fiber structures were clearly seen. Fibers generally showed regular fiber structures in the 100–200 nm range. The surface was quite cavitated surface roughness varies between 50–80 nm. Yeast arrested on these surfaces was clearly selected on the surface in the form of pyramidal cones. Especially at high magnifications, the surface roughness up to 150 nm was due to the yeast structures on the surface. Yeasts were seen attached in zones of approximately 10 µm, especially on fiber structures.
DTA and TGA analyses were performed to determine the effect of yeast structures attached to the surface on the thermal properties of cellulose fiber structures. The obtained TGA thermograms were given in Fig. 9. According to Fig. 9, thermal degradation of the pure cellulose structure occurred as a 2-stage weight loss. First weight loss started around 200°C. This weight loss due to the deterioration of the cellulose main chain structure was approximately 70% of the weight loss value and ends at around 380°C. The second weight loss was in the range of about 380–600°C. This weight loss was around 18% and is due to carbonization. When yeast is arrested on this structure, the decomposition temperature of the obtained structure decreases. The onset of degradation was observed around 160°C. First weight loss was around 160–350°C. Degradation of proteins and cellulosic unit in yeast structure was observed together. A second weight loss was observed around 350–420°C. This is due to the degradation of aromatic structures in the yeast structure. At around 420–530°C, carbonization of the cellulose structure was observed.
DTA thermograms were taken to confirm the TGA findings (Fig. 10). In these thermograms, two main exotherm regions were seen in the cellulose fiber structure. The first exotherm appeared as a broad band around 300–400°C. The second exotherm was in the form of an exotherm region with many peaks around 400–590°C. When yeast was included in the structure, 3 basic exotherm zones were seen. The first exotherm zone started at 268°C and ended at 388°C. The second exotherm zone started at 388°C and ended at about 450°C. The last exotherm was observed between 450–540°C. The second exotherm is seen only in the yeast-retained structure and is due to the yeast structure. Also, the first degradation peak energy decreased from 1.56 kJ/g to 1.19 kJ/g in the yeast-retained structures. In addition, the initial decomposition temperature decreased by about 50°C. All these changes prove the existence of yeast in the structure.
Dye decolorization with immobilized S. cerevisiae
was immobilized on lyophilized BC pieces and their RB 171 dye decolorization activity were tested. For this aim, various amounts of yeast-immobilized BC samples (3, 6 and 12 pieces of BC samples in 0.5 cm sizes) were incubated in RB 171 dye solutions at 30° C for 24 h under static and also agitated conditions. As shown in Fig. 11a, RB 171 dye decolorization activities of these 3 pieces, 6 pieces, and 12 pieces yeast-immobilized BC samples were 1%, 12%, and 25% and 12%, 24%, and 35% under static and agitated conditions after 24 h, respectively. Figure 11b and 11c show the photographs of the RB 171 dye solutions incubated with yeast-immobilized BC samples under static and agitated conditions.