Waste-to-Resource Strategies for Environmental Sustainability: Application of Biopolymers Produced from Winery Effluents

Abstract

Biopolymers represent biomaterials with important industrial applications. Among them, bacterial-derived biopolymers have shown potential to become promising materials for environmental remediation in the near future, as evidenced by several environmental applications that have recently been thoroughly studied. In this study, the emulsifying properties and the influence of xanthan produced by cultivation of the strain Xanthomonas campestris ATCC 13951 and a Xanthomonas strain isolated from crucifers on a medium containing winery effluents on pindolol removal were analyzed. The results indicate that xanthan produced on the winery effluents-based medium by both producing strains can be used as an emulsion forming and stabilizing agent between aqueous solutions and hydrocarbons or natural oils, and that this biopolymer enhances the efficiency of the removal of pindolol under UV irradiation. The results obtained provide additional information on the environmental applications of xanthan produced from winery effluents.