Evaluation of Agave tequilana by-products for microbial production of hyaluronic acid

The tequila industry generates enormous amounts of solid byproducts originated from the agave plant such as leaves (AL) and bagasse (AB). Agave leaves are often left on the fields for natural degradation and agave bagasse is usually burned. An ideal option for the use of these residues is obtaining high commercial value products such as hyaluronic acid (HA). In this contribution the production of HA with Streptococcus zooepidemicus was evaluated using the juice from AL, and with enzymatic hydrolyzates. The hydrolyzates were produced from untreated fibers from both AB and AL and acid-pretreated fiber from AB and AL. The juice obtained from AL had the highest amounts of monosaccharides (42.05 g/L). However, a higher production of HA (4.23 g/L) was obtained from hydrolyzates of pretreated fibers from AL. This research shows that residues from tequila industry are a promising source of monosaccharides for production of hyaluronic acid with Streptococcus zooepidemicus.