Water-absorbing gels are being increasingly used in our daily Lives. S
ome of these gels are synthesized by modification of starch. They are
of the superabsorbing type. The chemical modifications to starch, invo
lved in the synthesis of gels, are likely to present an environmental
threat on account of the loss of its inherent biodegradability. Alkali
hydrolysed starch-graft-polyacrylonitrile (HSPAN), a starch-based gel
, was studied for biodegradability using indigenously isolated bacteri
al culture. Interestingly, the bacterial culture isolated in the labor
atory used HSPAN as the sole source of carbon for its growth and proge
nesis. The microbial characteristics of the culture were Gram-positive
rods with centrally located spores. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al
l rights reserved.