초록
<P>Citrus juices from whole oranges and grapefruits (discarded from open market) and aqueous extracts from citrus processing waste (mainly peels) were used for bacterial cellulose production by <I>Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans</I> DSM 15973. Grapefruit and orange juices yielded higher bacterial cellulose concentration (6.7 and 6.1 g/L, respectively) than lemon, grapefruit, and orange peels aqueous extracts (5.2, 5.0, and 2.9 g/L, respectively). Compared to the cellulosic fraction isolated from depectinated orange peel, bacterial cellulose produced from orange peel aqueous extract presented improved water-holding capacity (26.5 g water/g, 3-fold higher), degree of polymerization (up to 6-fold higher), and crystallinity index (35-86% depending on the method used). The presence of absorption bands at 3240 and 3270 cm<SUP>-1</SUP> in the IR spectrum of bacterial cellulose indicated that the bacterial strain <I>K. sucrofermentans</I> synthesizes both I<SUB>α</SUB> and I<SUB>β</SUB> cellulose types, whereas the signals in the <SUP>13</SUP>C NMR spectrum demonstrated that I<SUB>α</SUB> cellulose is the dominant type.</P><BR>[FIG OMISSION]</BR>