Bacterial cellulose: applications focusing on sustainable alternatives

This article aims to investigate bacterial cellulose as a sustainable alternative to plant-based materials, exploring its production, characterization, and industrial applications. The research is qualitative, applied, and exploratory, involving literature reviewing and experiments on bacterial cellulose cultivation using black tea, sugar, active bacteria, and Scoby, incubated for fourteen days when, after washed, sanitized, and pre-dried, the material is hydrated with glycerin. Even with unsatisfactory cultures, potential applications for the material were proposed, although its commercial potential requires structural development of its production chain. It is concluded that bacterial cellulose is a promising biomaterial due to its biodegradability and versatility.