XANTHAN GUM FROM SUGAR CANE RESIDUE

Abstract

We focused on the usefulness of agricultural waste, we produced artificial paper from
agricultural waste such as pineapple peel and sugar cane residue. We found that water used to boil sugar cane
residue was contained sugar and we thought that this might be used as a raw material to produce other
products. Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide that is used as an additive to increase the viscosity and stability of
food product and other products. Some micro-organisms could produce xanthan gum. This project focused on
the xanthan gum production by using sugar cane residue extraction as raw material, and Xanthomonas
campestris TISTR 840. We found that the incubation time of Xanthomonas campestris TISTR 840 at room
temperature was 48 hours. Sugar cane residue extraction with a sugar concentration of 1.5g/100 mL and pH 7,
incubated with Xanthomonas campestris TISTR 840 for 144 hours at room temperature and 200 rpm shaker
speed could produce xanthan gum in highest amount, 1.5% yield. Addition of KCl at 4 g per 100 mL of
incubation media removed the micro-organism. We dried xanthan gum for 30 minutes at 1000 C and collected
1.5 g of xanthan gum. The produced xanthan gum was soluble in water, 95% ethanol, 5% NaOH, 8% HCl,
isopropyl alcohol and glycerol. It was stable in 5% NaOH, 8% HCl and 2% NaCl. The produced xanthan
gum was soluble in water at a concentration of 2 g/100mL and was stable at 1200C. Infrared spectroscopy
showed that both produced and commercial xanthan gum had a similar IR spectrum. The results indicated
that xanthan gum could be produced from agricultural waste.