BR-102024018053-A2 - PRODUCTION PROCESS OF BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES

Abstract

This patent application refers to a process for manufacturing biocellulose membranes for topical use employing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). The manufacturing process consists of replacing commercial culture media with an infusion produced from the leaves of two types of Camellia herbs. The cultivation is carried out in a controlled atmosphere incubation chamber, and the resulting membranes are chemically bleached. These biocellulose membranes can be applied as primary dressings for skin ulcers and burns, as well as in the manufacture of masks for skin treatment. They can be used as a support for the controlled release of drugs and dermocosmetic actives. The process in question is more economically attractive and easier to control due to the use of a symbiotic culture of microorganisms.

Inventors

• KATIUSCA WESSLER MIRANDA
• JANAÍNA LISI LEITE HOWARTH

Assignees

• NANOBIOCELL LTDA

Dates

Publication Date

20260317

Application Date

20240902

Claims (4)

1. 1. PRODUCTION PROCESS OF BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES for applications in skin dressings and dermocosmetic masks, characterized by being based on a fermentation process that employs a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, called SCOBY, and a culture medium based on green tea and/or black tea and sugars.
2. 2. PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES, according to claim 1, characterized by employing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, called SCOBY, which contains all the microorganisms listed in this invention or at least a combination of two or more of the aforementioned bacteria and yeasts.
3. 3. PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the ingredients green tea and/or black tea are used in the preparation of infusions in the concentration range between 6-15 g/L that serve as a culture medium.
4. 4. PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES, according to claim 1, characterized by containing commercial sugar (sucrose) used in the preparation of infusions in the concentration range between 50 and 80 g/L that serve as a culture medium.

Description

Field of invention [001] This invention patent refers to a production process for biocellulose membranes for topical use employing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, known as SCOBY. These biocellulose membranes can be applied as primary dressings for skin ulcers and burns, as well as in the manufacture of masks for skin treatment. The membrane acts as a barrier against infections during the healing process, keeps the wound moist during use, and aids in the regeneration of damaged skin. It can also be used as a support for the controlled release of drugs and dermocosmetic actives. Fundamentals of the invention [002] Biocellulose (BC), also known as bacterial cellulose, was first mentioned in 1886. During an acetic fermentation, Brown and his collaborators observed the formation of a white, gelatinous film, approximately 25 mm thick, floating on the surface of the liquid. The bacterium responsible for the synthesis of this exopolysaccharide was identified as Bacterium xylinum, which was later classified as Komagataeibacter xylinus (Ploska et al, 2023). Since then, various methods of biocellulose production have been tested, employing different microbial cultures and static and/or agitated methods. For the production of dermocosmetic dressings and masks, the static method is the most widely used. [003] BC is a biopolymer consisting of linear chains of glucose residues covalently linked together by β-linkages between carbons 1 and 4 of the glucose molecule (Fernandes et al, 202). Chemically, it is identical to cellulose obtained from pine and eucalyptus, with the advantage of being composed of pure cellulose and free of lignin and hemicellulose, characteristics of wood composition. These linear chains, known as β-glucan, form elementary fibrils with diameters of 3 to 8 nanometers (nm) (1nm is equal to 1x10-9 meters). The elementary fibrils aggregate into microfibrils with diameters between 50 and 100 nm (Poloska et al, 2023). [004] BC can be produced from certain types of Gram-negative bacteria, such as those of the genera Achromobacter, Alcaligenes, Aerobacter, Agrobacterium, Azotobacter, Komagataeibacter (earlier Gluconacetobacter), Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Dickeya, and Rhodobacter, and by Gram-positive bacteria such as those of the genus Sarcina (Lin, Liu, Shen, Chen, & Yang, 2020). The species considered best for commercial use in biocellulose production are K. xylinus (recently reclassified as Gluconacetobacter xylinus) (Blanco Parte et al., 2020). [005] The use of pure strains (a single type of bacteria) makes the process of obtaining biocellulose membranes on an industrial scale difficult to control, because the larger the process, the more difficult it becomes to avoid contamination of the culture with other microorganisms and the more expensive it becomes to create mechanisms to prevent this contamination. The presence of other species of microorganisms in the culture medium of a pure strain, in an uncontrolled manner, can affect the productivity of the process or inactivate the producing strain. This is one of the problems that this invention aims to solve. [006] Another factor that this invention aims to improve is biocellulose productivity. In general, pure strains yield 0.3 g/L/h of BC (Donini et al., 2010). To be competitive with vegetable cellulose production, higher productivity than reported is expected. To improve BC production yield, screening of high-yielding strains and optimization of culture conditions are commonly employed (Francisco et al., 2020). However, most BC-producing strains are strictly aerobic and therefore only capable of producing BC at the gas-liquid interface, leading to insufficient oxygen supply, resulting in slow fermentation and a long production cycle (Liu et al., 2018; Richard et al., 2015; Patrícia and Manuel, 2020). Therefore, it is necessary to use an optional anaerobic strain producing BC with a rapid growth rate and a short fermentation cycle to replace the strictly aerobic strain to solve the current problems. On the other hand, several reports have indicated that optimizing culture conditions, such as fermentation equipment, component ratios, and additives, can also effectively increase BC production (Gao et al., 2021). And that is how this invention was conceived. [007] A typical fermentation medium is composed of at least one carbon source, one nitrogen source, and certain nutrient elements such as phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, and magnesium (Andriani et al., 2020). The typical culture medium used for BC production was first described by Hestrin and Schramm (1954). It contains 2.0% by weight of glucose, 0.5% by weight of peptone, 0.5% by weight of yeast extract, 0.27% by weight of Na2HPO4, and 0.115% by weight of citric acid (Hestrin and Schramm, 1954), where glucose serves as the carbon source, and peptone and yeast extract act as the nitrogen source. The pH value of the medium is adjusted to 6.0 using HCl or NaOH (Zhong, 2020). This culture medium i