Sustainable use of agro-industrial wastes as potential feedstocks for exopolysaccharide production by selected Halomonas strains

Ichrak Joulak, Patrícia Concórdio-Reis, Cristiana A. V. Torres, Chantal Sevrin, Christian Grandfils, Hamadi Attia, Filomena Freitas, Maria A. M. Reis, Samia Azabou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Large quantities of waste biomass are generated annually worldwide by many industries and are vastly underutilized. However, these wastes contain sugars and other dissolved organic matter and therefore can be exploited to produce microbial biopolymers. In this study, four selected Halomonas strains, namely, Halomonas caseinilytica K1, Halomonas elongata K4, Halomonas smyrnensis S3, and Halomonas halophila S4, were investigated for the production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) using low-cost agro-industrial wastes as the sole carbon source: cheese whey, grape pomace, and glycerol. Interestingly, both yield and monosaccharide composition of EPS were affected by the carbon source. Glucose, mannose, galactose, and rhamnose were the predominant monomers, but their relative molar ratio was different. Similarly, the average molecular weight of the synthesized EPS was affected, ranging from 54.5 to 4480 kDa. The highest EPS concentration (446 mg/L) was obtained for H. caseinilytica K1 grown on cheese whey that produced an EPS composed mostly of galactose, rhamnose, glucose, and mannose, with lower contents of galacturonic acid, ribose, and arabinose and with a molecular weight of 54.5 kDa. Henceforth, the ability of Halomonas strains to use cost-effective substrates, especially cheese whey, is a promising approach for the production of EPS with distinct physicochemical properties suitable for various applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)22043-22055
JournalEnvironmental Science and Pollution Research
Volume29
Issue number15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2022

Keywords

  • Cheese whey
  • Exopolysaccharides’ properties
  • Glycerol
  • Grape pomace
  • Halophilic bacteria
  • Microbial exopolysaccharides

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