Advances in the Production of Biomaterials through Kombucha Using Food Waste: Concepts, Challenges, and Potential

Abstract

In recent years, several researchers have focused their studies on the development of sustainable biomaterials using renewable sources, including the incorporation of living biological systems. One of the best biomaterials is bacterial cellulose (BC). There are several ways to produce BC, from using a pure strain to producing the fermented drink kombucha, which has a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY). Studies have shown that the use of agricultural waste can be a low-cost and sustainable way to create BC. This article conducts a literature review to analyze issues related to the creation of BC through kombucha production. The databases used were ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and SpringerLink. A total of 42 articles, dated from 2018 to 2022, were referenced to write this review. The findings contributed to the discussion of three topics: (1) The production of BC through food waste (including patents in addition to the scientific literature); (2) Areas of research, sectors, and products that use BC (including research that did not use the kombucha drink, but used food waste as a source of carbon and nitrogen); and (3) Production, sustainability, and circular economy: perspectives, challenges, and trends in the use of BC (including some advantages and disadvantages of BC production through the kombucha drink).

Biosynthesis of Bacterial Nanocellulose from Low-Cost Cellulosic Feedstocks: Effect of Microbial Producer

“…The consortia have a high adaptive potential, and the coordinated consumption of a substrate and the formation of metabolites enhance their tolerance to nutrient media of a variable composition and increase the target product (BNC) yield, which is of special importance in a real production setting [ 45 , 46 ]. Therefore, the whole trend of using the symbiotic culture for BNC biosynthesis has emerged in the literature worldwide in the recent times [ 33 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”

Exopolysaccharides Producing Bacteria: A Review

“…BC is an attractive biopolymer for a number of applications including food, biomedical, cosmetics, and engineering fields. The review by Cubas et al (2023) reported BC to be a new era in Green Chemistry products [ 165 ]. In the past five years, there have been many interesting, detailed reviews describing BC production, properties, and applications [ 43 , 65 , 68 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 76 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 173 , 174 , 175 , 176 , 177 , 178 , 179 ].…”

“…BC has great potential to be used in medicine [ 2 , 3 , 43 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 179 ] as a biomaterial for wound dressing [ 180 , 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 186 ], tissue engineering [ 187 , 188 , 189 , 190 , 191 , 192 ], and drug delivery systems [ 51 , 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 , 197 ]. In addition, BC can be used in the food industry as a nutritional component, food packaging, an emulsion stabilizer, and novel food [ 165 , 198 , 199 , 200 ]. BC is known as a fiber-rich natural food that offers many health benefits and reduces the risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases [ 199 ].…”

Toxicological Characteristics of Bacterial Nanocellulose in an In Vivo Experiment—Part 1: The Systemic Effects

“…One of the most widespread high-performance technologies for producing BNC is based on fermentation with a symbiotic culture of Medusomyces gisevii, known under such traditional names as "Nata" or "Kombucha" and which has a long tradition of food use [14]. BNC obtained by this method has very high content of cellulose allomorph Iα (CIα) in the range of 94-100% and degree of crystallinity (CI) in the range of 88-93%, which will give it high functional characteristics, making it an attractive substance for food use.…”