Abstract: Chayote (Sechium edule) Juice was used as the basal fermentation medium to prepare bacterial cellulose through the fermentation of Acetobacter xylinus. Plackett-Burman factorial design was used to determine the effects of sugar concentration and pH on productivity of bacterial cellulose. Steepest ascent method was used to determine the central point of both factors. Central composite design was used to build the experimental model and the optimal processing conditions were fermentation temperature of 28 ℃, (NH4)2SO4 concentration of 0.3 g/100 mL, Schehium edule juice concentration of 100 %, sugar concentration of 6.54 g/100 mL and pH 4.19. Under the optimal processing conditions, the yield of bacterial cellulose was up to 4.18 g/L (dry weight).

Key words: Schehium edule juice, bacterial cellulose, sequential design