Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a flexible biopolymer having valuable properties like high purity (without hemicellulose and lignin), high percentage of crystallinity, water retention, mechanical strength, biodegradability and unique biocompatibility. Unlike plant cellulose, bacterial cellulose is produced by many bacterial species. Recent advances in research have identified several producers of BC but the key producer is Komagataeibacter xylinus. BC produced from K. xylinus is known to possess captivating structural, physical, and chemical properties, hence making it a significant natural polymer to be used for future innovative research purposes. This review paper discusses the structural and physicochemical properties of BC; its natural production from bacteria as well as its production under optimized culture conditions. Since the demand for useful composites is high, the involvement of BC in the development of BC-based composites has also been discussed in detail in this paper. This review paper also highlights the diverse applications of BC in the biomedical, electronics, food, textile and pharmaceutical industries. The involvement of BC in the food and pharmaceutical industries can lead to further development of several BC-based super foods and next-generation wound dressings. On the basis of the compiled information in this review paper as well as that in the available literature, future studies should be focused on BC-based drug delivery mechanisms and their performance in in vivo and in vitro experiments; studies that should help to understand this biopolymer in a meticulous manner.
Keywords: bacterial cellulose; cellulose synthase; tissue engineering; biocompatible; composites
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