Abstract
Candida tropicalis, an osmophilic strain isolated from honeycomb, produced xylitol at a maximal volumetric production rate of 3.5 g $l^{-1}$ $h^{-1}$ from an initial xylose concentration of 200 g $l^{-1}$. Even with a very high xylose concentration, e.g., 350 g $l^{-1}$, this strain produced xylitol at a moderate rate of 2.07 g $l^{-1}$ $h^{-1}$. In a fed-batch fermentation of xylose and glucose, 260 g $l^{-1}$ of xylose was added, and xylitol production was 234 g $l^{-1}$ for 48 h, corresponding to a rate of 4.88 g $l^{-1}$ $h^{-1}$. To increase the xylitol production rate, cells were recycled in a submerged membrane bioreactor with suction pressure and air sparging. In cell-recycle fermentation, the average concentration of xylitol produced per recycle round, total fermentation time, volumetric production rate, and product yield for ten rounds were 180 g $l^{-1}$, 195 h, 8.5 g $l^{-1}$ $h^{-1}$, and 85%, respectively. When cell-recycle fermentation was started with the cell mass contratrated two-fold after batch fermentation and was performed for ten recycle rounds, we achieved a very high production rate of 12 g $l^{-1}$ $h^{-1}$. The production rate and total amount of xylitol produced in cell-recycle fermentation were 3.4 and 11 times higher than in batch fermentation, respectively.