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A review of bacterial cellulose: sustainable production from agricultural waste and applications in various fields

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Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a polymer with interesting conformation and properties. BC can be obtained in different shapes and is easily modified by chemical and physical means, so its applications in the production of new materials and nanocomposites for different purposes have been in the focus of many research projects. However, one of the major challenges to address in bacterium-derived polymer technology is to find suitable carbon sources as substrates that are cheap and do not compete with food production for achieving large scale industrial applications. Agricultural wastes are defined as the residues from the growing and processing of raw agricultural products such as crops, fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Their composition can vary depending on the type of agricultural activity and harvesting conditions, but these residues are suitable for the production of BC. The aim of this review is to give insight into the production of BC using agro-wastes and an overview of the most interesting and novel applications of this biopolymer in different areas i.e. environmental applications, optoelectronic and conductive devices, food ingredients and packaging, biomedicine, and 3D printing technology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank for the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MAT2020-PID2019-105090RB-I00) and to the University of the Basque Country for the GIU18/216. L. Urbina wishes to acknowledge the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) for the postdoctoral DOKBERRI grant.

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Correspondence to Leire Urbina.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. In this experiment, we did not collect any samples of humans and animals.

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Urbina, L., Corcuera, M.Á., Gabilondo, N. et al. A review of bacterial cellulose: sustainable production from agricultural waste and applications in various fields. Cellulose 28, 8229–8253 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-04020-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-04020-4

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