Vol. 23, No. 2 (2024), Bio24211 https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/Bio24211

Effect of the carbon-nitrogen ratio on the co-production of polyhydroxyalkanoates and exopolysaccharides by Enterobacter soli

 

Authors

A.P. Gayosso-Sánchez, R. Hernández-Martínez, N.A. Pacheco-López, J.A. Herrera-Corredor, S. Valdivia-Rivera, I.E. Herrera-Pool

Abstract

The pollution generated by the indiscriminate use of conventional plastics has caused severe damage to the environment, so there is a need for alternatives such as the production of bioplastics from renewable sources. In the present work, the effect of different carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio (3, 7 and 11) and three carbon souces (sucrose, glucose and fructose) on co-production of polyhydroxyalkanoates and exopolysaccharides by Enterobacter soli in submerged culture was evaluated. The results showed that nitrogen limitation promoted the accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoates, since with a C/N ratio of 11 the highest concentration was obtained (33 mg L-1). On the other hand, high concentrations of nitrogen result in increased exopolysaccharides production (reported as precipitate g L-1) with a C/N ratio of 3 (1.09 g·L-1). Considering the results obtained, the production of biopolymers and consumption of sucrose were evaluated by means of a growth kinetics adjusting the C/N ratio to 11. The consumption of sucrose, glucose, and fructose substrate is consistent with the production of biomass, PHAs, and exopolysaccharides. The characterization of the biopolymers showed that E. soli is capable of co-producing polyhydroxybutyrate and inulin (recovered precipitate), such biopolymers were characterized by FTIR and mass spectrometry, respectively.

Keywords

Biopolymer, bioplastic, co-production, submerged cultivation.

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