Agro-industrial waste: a potential feedstock for pullulan production

Nowadays, the growing interest of using of biopolymer to replace petroleum based material asare increasing tremendously. Microbial biopolymers are usually water-soluble gum which have innovative and unique physical characteristics.Pullulan is a biodegradable and water soluble exopolysaccharide synthesized by the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans. This polymorphic fungus is well known as producer of the polysaccharide, pullulan and other by-products such as oil, organic acids, pigment, and others. Pullulan has extensive applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biomedical, and food industries because of its advantageous chemical and physical properties. Pullulan’s structure is co-existence of á-(1, 4) and á-(1, 6) linkages which is nontoxic, tasteless and non-mutagenic. Some of its excellent properties are low viscosity, non-toxicity, slow digestibility, high plasticity, and excellent film-forming capabilities. Although pullulan shows great potential in several industries, its high production cost is a major drawback. Therefore, cheaper and accessible substrate which can minimize the production cost is needed. This review highlights the potential use of agro-industrial waste as an alternative source feedstock for pullulan production and its biosynthesis, chemical structure, production process and applications

Pullulan, a biopolymer with potential applications in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical: a review

Pullulan is an important polysaccharide with unique characteristics. This natural biopolymer is water-soluble, non-mutagenic, non-immunogenic, and non-toxic. It produced naturally as extracellular polysaccharide by the yeast-like fungi Aureobasidium pullulans. Due to the chemical, biological, and physical characteristics, pullulan has become a desired compound for many applications in pharmaceutical industry including drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering, medical imaging, plasma expander and also in the cosmeceutical industries. This article presents a review of the state-of-the-art applications of pullulan by Aureobasidium sp. in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical field. Such important knowledge was organized and updated on the basis of latest research directions in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical area. The presented information emphasizes an actual outlook and the essential steps to improve the utmost exploitation of the scientific advancement documented in the pullulan area up to date

Screening of factors influencing pullulan production by aureobasidium melanogenum dsm 2404 using fractional factorial design

Pullulan is a water-soluble exopolysaccharide that is synthesized by the black yeast-like-fungus, Aureobasidium sp. Total seven factors including maltose, yeast extract, (NH4)2SO4, peptone, KH2PO4, MgSO4.7H2O, and NaCl were investigated for their effects on pullulan production in shake-flasks by A. melanogenum DSM 2404 using a two-level fractional factorial design (Plackett–Burman Design). The result of variance analysis (ANOVA) proposed that there were four statistically significant (P < 0.05) factors in the production of pullulan by this strain. Maltose, yeast extract, peptone, and KH2PO4 were found to have significant effects on pullulan production using the Plackett–Burman Design. The statistical analysis shows that the linear mathematical model is significant with the coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.8945