Microbial β-glucan exopolysaccharide production in media supplemented with coconut water as carbon source

Microbial exopolysaccharide (EPS) has been widely used in industry as the substitute for polymers. The EPS price on industry is being influenced by the price of raw material during cultivation. Mostly the carbon source used in the media for EPS production is in pure form of glucose or sucrose. Many researches have been focusing on finding alternative cheaper carbon source. Carbon source from coconut water for EPS production previously has been done focusing only on ripened coconut water. This study has found that un-ripened coconut water (10.831 mg/mL) is better as carbon source in minimum media for β-glucan EPS production in Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749 than ripened coconut water (9.546 mg/mL) due to the pH value effecting the EPS production. But, β-glucan EPS production in PI18 strain has not shown any products due to the lack of carbon source for EPS production but shows good microbial cell growth. The negative results for PI18 strain in EPS production also due to low pH value that inhibit the EPS production since optimum pH value for EPS production is pH 5.5-6.0. Autoclaving the carbon source which is coconut water in this study has shown significant effect where it can affect the EPS production due to sucrose degradation. Hence, the best way to sterilize the coconut water used as carbon source for EPS production is by filter it using sterile 0.22μm filter pores.