Overproduction of an extracellular polysaccharide possessing high lipid emulsion stabilizing effects by Bacillus sp.

Bacillus sp. CP912, producing an extracellular biopolymer, was isolated fro m the soil. Maximum accumulation of the biopolymer was 10 g l(-1) culture b roth with a yield of 88% from glucose consumed. The biopolymer was purified with several precipitation steps using ethanol and cetyl-trimethyl-ammoniu m bromide. Carbohydrate analyses using various color reactions, infrared sp ectroscopy, and high performance liquid chromatography revealed that the bi opolymer is a homopolysaccharide. The lipid emulsifying capacity of the pol ysaccharide was 100%, while that of xanthan gum was 94%.