Journal du génie chimique et de la technologie des procédés
Libre accès
ISSN: 2157-7048
ISSN: 2157-7048
Marisa Faria, Manfred Kaufmann, Vitor Vasconcelos and Nereida Cordeiro
Currently, the environmental pollution threatens the sustainability of our planet leading to the proliferation of scientific research in several areas to obtain sustainable biotechnologies. In this sense, the exploitation of biopolymers from natural and renewable origins to replace polymers derived from petrochemical, limiting the use of synthetic polymers, has received visibility and interest for applications in bioremediation and/or biomedical materials [1, 2]. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) have been displayed as a promising potential alternative to synthetic sources. They can be used in numerous applications in biomedical fields, such as scaffolds and drug delivery [2] or as agents with high valuable biological activities (e.g., antiviral, antimicrobial, anticoagulant, antitumor) [4] and in bioremediation fields for the removal of organic and metallic pollutants [4, 5]. EPSs productivity and physicochemical properties depend of the cyanobacteria species and the cultivation conditions. It is utmost important to achieve and explore new cyanobacteria with the ability to produce exopolymeric substances with bioactive properties. In this research work, the cyanobacteria Cyanocohniella calida was evaluated as a potential source of EPS under static and aerated culture. Different EPSs molecular size fractions (100, 12-14, 10 and 5 kDa) were obtained and characterized through morphological, structural, and surface techniques. C. calida proved to be a promising producer of EPSs at under-aeration growth conditions with a yield of 280 mg L-1 in Spirulina medium and a viscosity of 26.76 cP in culture medium. EPSs monosaccharide profile indicates a heteropolysaccharide composition. C. calida EPSs have an anionic fibrillar structure making them suitable for biotechnological/biomedical applications.