Bioproduction of xanthan by Xanthomonas campestris using fructose and Black Soldier Fly Larvae as alternative nitrogen sources

Xanthan gum is a microbial exopolysaccharide that has been produced commercially from carbon sources by fermentation using Xanthomonas campestris. Xanthan is a natural polysaccharide that is currently used for variety of applications in industry such as food, medical, textile and oil industries. Many industries used xanthan because of its properties meet the industry’s needs. It is use as a stabilizer, thickener, and emulsifier agent in various food and industrial products. However, xanthan production is very costly and can cause the effect to the environmental sustainability if the production is relying only on the traditional source and material. Production of xanthan is commonly using glucose as the carbon substrate for the commercial manufacture, which effect to increasing cost of the xanthan synthesis. By using a less expensive substrate for example like agricultural waste, it is one of the techniques that can reduce the cost of the production. Besides, suitable nitrogen source also plays a crucial role for the production by using the optimal concentrations, to help maximize the synthesis of xanthan. The bacteria were cultivated at five different concentration of nitrogen source which are 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 g/L. Therefore, this study will be focusing on the effect of different nitrogen concentrations which use Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) as the alternative nitrogen source and its potential on the production of xanthan. Fructose will be use as the carbon source with the fixed concentration of 40g/L for each medium with different nitrogen concentration. And the bacteria that will be use for the fermentation process is Xanthomonas campestris ATCC 13951. At the end, the result shows that the medium containing 2 g/L of BSFL successfully produced the highest xanthan production that is 5.29 g/L. This is proven that BSFL has a potential in producing xanthan.