Bacterial Cellulose: An Ecological Alternative as a Biotextile

Rekha Mehrotra , Samiksha Sharma¹ , Nidhi Shree¹ and Kohinoor Kaur^1*

Department of Microbiology, Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women, Delhi University, Vasundhara Enclave, Delhi – 110096, India

Corresponding Author E-mail: Kohinoor.kaur@rajguru.du.ac.in

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/3101

ABSTRACT: Bacterial cellulose has come forth as a novel nano-material with an extensive range of distinct properties, making it an excellent industrial alternative to conventional plant cellulose, as the world moves toward a sustainable and cleaner phase. Bacterial cellulose is a biomaterial that breaks down naturally in the environment and is produced by natural mechanism in bacterial cells. It has been considered as a substitute to traditional biomaterials in numerous sectors, namely, textile, pharmaceutical, food industry, biotechnology, for its features enabling to achieve sustainable development goals. The present focus is on looking at developing an inexpensive substrate for the synthesis of bacterial cellulose from industrial waste as its commercialization is restricted due to social, economic, and environmental considerations. Upcoming research in biotechnological area of biotextiles and biocomposites aims to integrate basic knowledge of textiles with biological sciences thereby facilitating production of goods which are commercially more viable and also less harmful to the environment. The review discusses the data regarding the use of bacterial cellulose and its production over the years, notably in the textile sector, with an emphasis on advancement of research to enable its extensive production and in various other areas like cosmetology, food industry, biomedical and paper industry. In addition, potential benefits of bacterial cellulose development addressing many of the global sustainable development goals along with suggestions for its scale-up have also been discussed.

KEYWORDS: Bacterial Cellulose; Biomaterial; Bio-textile; Clean Biotechnology; Nano-material; Sustainability

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