pH-Sensitive chitosan films for Baker's yeast immobilization

Dried baker's yeast cells were immobilized on a chitosan film, which is a natural polymer. Prepared chitosan films were treated with glutaraldehyde to facilitate the immobilization of the cells. The effects of the amount of glutaraldehyde, incubation time, pH, and temperature on immobilization were investigated. The amount of glutaraldehyde was chosen to be 0.01% (weight). The highest amount of yeast immobilization was obtained with 5 h incubation. It was determined that optimum temperature for immobilization is 25 degrees C, and the optimum pH for immobilization is 6. Immobilized cells were allowed to stand for 3 d in distilled water and buffer solution (pH 6) to investigate the desorption, but no desorption was found. The maximum immobilization capacities were found to be 90 micrograms protein cm-2 film in optimum conditions.