Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a biopolymer with a wide range of potential applications starting from the food industry and biomedicine to electronics and cosmetics. Despite that, BC industrial production to date still is associated with certain difficulties. One of them is the high cost of growth media, which can reach up to 30% of production costs. To decrease production costs, use of industrial and agricultural by-products, including whey, as alternative growth media has been reported. Whey, as the main high-volume by-product of dairy industry, which is known for its low valorisation opportunities and negative environmental impact, can nevertheless be considered as an alternative growth medium for BC production. To date, several studies aimed at evaluating BC production on whey and lactose substrates have been reported, but they are still insufficient. Reviews of them showed that, in general, BC production on untreated whey- and lactose-containing media was lower than that on the standard medium. However, some wild and recombinant strains have been reported to produce BC on whey as good as the standard medium. Enzymatic and acidic pre-treatment of whey significantly enhanced BC yield. Changes in the microstructure of BC obtained from whey were also recognised, which should be considered regarding the impact on physical properties of the desired BC product. This mini-review indicates that currently whey can be recognised as quite a problematic alternative growth substrate for industrial BC production; however, further extensive studies may improve the prospects in both the search for a cheap alternative growth substrate for industrial BC production and valorisation of whey. KEY POINTS: • Whey is a by-product in which valorisation is still challenging. • Whey can be used for bacterial cellulose (BC) production. • BC yield and properties vary upon cultivation conditions and producer strains.
Keywords: Acetic acid bacteria; Bacterial cellulose; Biopolymers; Whey; Whey valorisation.