ISOLATION OF GLUCONOBACTER OXYDANS PIN7 AS A POTENTIAL PRODUCER OF CELLULOSE FROM FRUIT WASTESKhulood Fahad Saud Alabbosh, Nur Hazlin Hazrin Chong, Mohd Sahaid Kalil and Wan Mohtar Wan YusoffAbstract Cellulose is an essential polymer that is commonly produced from plants and bacteria in a number of industrial processes, such as the biomedical and food industries. While cellulose production from plants is costly, bacterial cellulose (BC) is recognised as one of the best types of cellulose produced. The aim of this study was therefore to generate BC from different types of fruit waste through isolation, identification and characterization procedures. A total of 50 fruit waste samples (watermelon, pineapple, mango, apple and grape) were collected in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, where 10 isolates from these samples were capable of producing BC. Ten strains of all these fruits were analysed for morphological and biochemical testing. The findings showed that all isolates matched the characteristics of the BC producers. The BC production of each isolate was then evaluated using a batch culture technique cultivated in the Hestrin-Schramm medium. Of the 10 strains, only pineapple isolates showed high BC production (3.34 g/l ± 0.06). The BC produced by the PIN7 isolate was identified using 16S rRNA analysis and indicated that it was closely linked to Gluconobacter oxydans with a sequence identity of 98%. The strain has been identified as G. oxydans PIN7. The potential for PIN7 isolation was therefore tested and demonstrated to have a high BC production capability. |