Fermentation of Sugarcane Bagasse Hemicellulose Hydrolysate to Xylitol by a Hydrolysate-Acclimatized Yeast

The yeast strain, Candida sp B-22, which has an increased tolerance to untreated neutralized sugarcane bagasse hemicellulose hydrolysate has been isolated by a continuous adaptation-selection technique which allows yeasts to overcome the inhibitory effect of extraneous chemicals in hydrolysate. With this yeast, xylitol is produced from untreated full-strength hydrolysate in a yield of over 85% of the theoretical value. A final xylitol concentration of 94.74 g/L was obtained from 105.35 g/L D-xylose in hemicellulose hydrolysate after 96 hr of incubation.