A review of culture media for bacterial cellulose production: complex, chemically defined and minimal media modulations

Abstract

Culture media is classified into several categories depending on their composition or application. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising biomaterial with desirable properties for industrial and commercial applications. Based on that, its production was explored in several works on the modulation of the culture media. This review provides an overview of the advantages and limitations of undefined and defined media for BC production. The majority of these reported researches are based in complex media through modification of carbon and nitrogen sources. Some of them focused on the addition of non-conventional components to improve BC yield and reduce the production cost. However, the exact composition of these media cannot be determined, hindering the process reproducibility. Alternatively, chemically and minimal defined media, that are required in biochemical, physiological and genetic studies, due its exact amount of nutrients, are potential alternatives as BC culture media. The modulation of different types of culture media will determine the costs, yield and properties of BC.

Graphic abstract