Engineering aspects of microbial exopolysaccharide production

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microbiology
• Biopolymer Science

Background:

• Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are microbial biopolymers with diverse applications.
• Commercialization of microbial EPS is limited, with few established products like xanthan and pullulan.
• Emerging microbial sources like endophytes, extremophiles, and microalgae show potential for novel EPS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review bioprocesses for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production from various microbial sources.
• To discuss the development and scale-up of microbial EPS production.
• To identify challenges and future prospects in microbial EPS commercialization.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of microbial EPS production studies.
• Analysis of bioprocess development and scale-up strategies.
• Identification of bottlenecks and future research directions.

Main Results:

• Diverse microbial systems, including endophytes, extremophiles, and microalgae, can produce EPS with unique properties.
• Significant research efforts are focused on optimizing bioprocesses for these novel EPS.
• Challenges in scale-up and commercialization persist for many microbial EPS.

Conclusions:

• Microbial EPS hold great potential for novel biopolymers beyond currently commercialized ones.
• Advancements in bioprocess engineering are crucial for overcoming production and scale-up hurdles.
• Further research into diverse microbial producers and their EPS properties is warranted.