title: Production and mass transfer characteristics of non-Newtonian biopolymers for biomedical applications.
abstract: The market for microbial biopolymers is currently expanding to include several emerging biomedical applications. Specifically, these applications are drug delivery and wound healing. A fundamental understanding of the key fermentation parameters is necessary in order to optimize the production of these biopolymers. Considering that most microbial biopolymer systems exhibit non-Newtonian rheology, oxygen mass transfer can be an important parameter to optimize and control. In this article, we present a critical review of recent advances in rheological and mass transfer characteristics of selected biopolymers of commercial interest in biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B9.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Argyrios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Margaritis
mesh_terms: D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D005285:Fermentation; D007218:Industrial Microbiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007700:Kinetics; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers