Bacterial cellulose/gum Arabic composite production by in-situ modification from lavender residue hydrolysate

In this study, bacterial cellulose/gum Arabic composite (BC/GA) was synthesized by in-situ modification from lavender residue hydrolysate for the first time. The in-situ modification with GA adding showed great beneficial effect for BC/GA synthesis. Both the product (BC or BC/GA) yield and the product (BC or BC/GA) production per sugars consumption increased greatly by the in-situ modification when compared with the fermentation without GA adding (2.90 g/L vs. 0.91 g/L, and 0.461 g/g vs. 0.138 g/g). It is hypothesized that the combination of BC and GA is the main mechanism for the beneficial effect of the in-situ modification, and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images confirmed this hypothesis. GA adding showed little effect on the rheological properties of lavender residue hydrolysate, and this environment was suitable for the combination of BC and GA. The in-situ modification had an obvious influence on the crystallinity index and the thermal stability of BC/GA, but affected little on its functional groups and cellulose structural framework. Besides BC/GA synthesis and structure, the in-situ modification could also alter the texture properties of BC/GA. Overall, this study can offer some useful information for the biochemical conversion from green and cost-effective lavender residue hydrolysate to attractive biomaterial BC/GA.