Abstract
A variety of microbial strains isolated from soil were tested for their ability to produce D-tagatose from D-galactose. An organism that can convert D-galactose into D-tagatose was selected and was identified as Enterobacter agglomerans. The cells grown on the induction medium containing 20 g/l arabinose were found to the best conversion potential among different carbohydrates and the conversion yield was about 15% when 20 gll galactose was used. The isolated crystals were obtained from the culture broth after the purification process such as treatment of ion resins, crystallization, and drying. The recovery yield was 70% after the purification. The crystals were identified as D-tagatose by the infrared spectroscopy, HPLC, specific optical rotation, and melting point.