Determination of the stoichiometry and critical oxygen tension in the production culture of bacterial cellulose using saccharified food wastes

The stoichiometry of the entire reaction in a 50 L scaled-up production culture of bacterial cellulose (BC), using saccharified food wastes (SFW), was analyzed in this study. The stoichiometric analysis was carried out using the chemical formula, yield, degrees of reduction of the major components, and the respiratory quotient (RQ). Based on the stoichiometric analysis, the amounts of substrate, oxygen supply and BC production etc., were able to be predicted. In addition, the amount of energy generated in the culture was predicted based on the oxygen consumption via the stoichiometric analysis. The stoichiometry of BC production using SFW in a 50 L large scale reactor will be useful as a standard for mass production of the culture. The stoichiometric analysis can also help the designers of reactors decide on the boiler capacity and oxygen supply for a large scale bioreactor system. The OUR (oxygen uptake rate) of Acetobacter xylinum KJ1 in a 12 hour-age cultivation was 0.21 mg DO/L.min, from which the critical DO concentration was suggested to be maintained above 3.10 ppm to prevent oxygen limitation during the BC production culture. The results indicated that pure oxygen should be supplied during the exponential phase, where DO depletion was observed. An ascertainment experiment, with the addition of pure oxygen into the culture system, showed BC production of 7.37 g/L, which was considerable productivity.