Advances in pullulan production from agro-based wastes by Aureobasidium pullulans and its applications

Pullulan is an important exopolysaccharide commercially obtained from ubiquitous fungi Aureobasidium pullulans. Pullulan has unique physicochemical properties, due to which it has wide applications in the food, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Various synthetic media and agro-industrial wastes have been utilized for the production of pullulan. Agro-industrial waste has become a preferred substrate for biotransformation due to its economical aspect and nutritional attributes. Pullulan is one of the valuable products produced by the biotransformation of agro-based wastes. Numerous factors which influence the pullulan production are the type of substrate, the addition of carbon source, nitrogen source, pH of the medium, aeration/ agitation speed and temperature. The cost, productivity of the product and efficiency depends on the selection of raw material, type of fermentation (bioprocess), type of strain and downstream processing (recovery). This review focuses on pullulan production from agro-based wastes, the influence of factors and its applications.

Automated summary

Pullulan is an important exopolysaccharide obtained from ubiquitous fungi Aureobasidium pullulans with wide applications in the food, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Agro-industrial waste has become a preferred substrate for pullulan production due to its economic and nutritional attributes. Various factors such as type of substrate, carbon source addition, nitrogen source, pH, aeration/agitation speed, and temperature influence pullulan production.