Effects of initial pH on biological synthesis of xylitol using xylose-rich hydrolysate

Sugarcane bagasse, an agricultural residue plentiful in Brazil, was utilized for xylitol production by a biotechnological process. Am edium fermentation prepared with this xylose-rich biomass at an oxygen transfer volmetric coefficient of 10/h1 and different initial pH value was inoculated with cells of Candida guilliermondii FTI 20037. The maximum values of xylitol and cell volumetric productivities (Q p=0.56 g/[L·h] and Q p=0.11 g/[g·h]), xylitol yield factor (Y p/s=0.79 g/g), and xylose uptake rate (qs=0.197 g/[g·h]) wereattained atp H 7.0 without further pH control. The results show that the yeast performance was influeced by the pH, an im portant bioengineering prameter in this fermentation process.