Sterilization of Exopolysaccharides Produced by Deep-Sea Bacteria: Impact on Their Stability and Degradation

Marine Drugs

Emilie Rederstorff²  Ahmed Fatimi¹  Corinne Sinquin²  Jacqueline Ratiskol²  Christophe Merceron¹  Claire Vinatier¹  Pierre Weiss¹ 

[1] INSERM UMRS 791, Laboratory of Osteo-Articular and Dental Tissue Engineering, School of Dental Surgery, University of Nantes, 1 Place Alexis Ricordeau, 44042 Nantes Cedex 1, France; E-Mails:;Laboratory of Biotechnology and Marine Molecules, French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), Rue de l’Ile d’Yeu, BP 21105, 44311 Nantes Cedex 03, France; E-Mails:

关键词: marine biotechnology;    polysaccharides;    sterilization procedures;    characterization;    molecular weight distribution;    rheology;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md9020224

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Polysaccharides are highly heat-sensitive macromolecules, so high temperature treatments are greatly destructive and cause considerable damage, such as a great decrease in both viscosity and molecular weight of the polymer. The technical feasibility of the production of exopolysaccharides by deep-sea bacteria Vibrio diabolicus and Alteromonas infernus was previously demonstrated using a bioproduct manufacturing process. The objective of this study was to determine which sterilization method, other than heat sterilization, was the most appropriate for these marine exopolysaccharides and was in accordance with bioprocess engineering requirements. Chemical sterilization using low-temperature ethylene oxide and a mixture of ionized gases (plasmas) was compared to the sterilization methods using gamma and beta radiations. The changes to both the physical and chemical properties of the sterilized exopolysaccharides were analyzed. The use of ethylene oxide can be recommended for the sterilization of polysaccharides as a weak effect on both rheological and structural properties was observed. This low-temperature gas sterilizing process is very efficient, giving a good Sterility Assurance Level (SAL), and is also well suited to large-scale compound manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.