Kusumawadee Thancharoen, Sirirat Deeseenthum and Kanit Vichitphan

DOI: 10.14456/sjst-psu.2016.63

pp. 473 - 483

Abstract

Xylitol is a high value sugar alcohol that is used as a sweetener. In the past years, the biological process of D-xylose
from lignocellulosic material into xylitol has gained increasing interest as an alternative production method. In this study,
sugarcane bagasse was used as raw material for xylitol production because of its high efficiency, reduced industrial cost, and
high concentration of xylose. Pre-treatment of sugarcane bagasse with sulfuric acid was performed with various conditions.
The results showed that the optimum condition was exhibited for 3.1% sulfuric acid at 126°C for 18 min producing 19 g/l
xylose. Isolated yeasts from the sugarcane bagasse were selected and tested for xylitol ability from xylose. Results showed
that Candida tropicalis KS 10-3 (from 72 isolates) had the highest ability and produced 0.47 g xylitol/ g xylose in 96 hrs of
cultivation containing 32.30 g/l xylose was used as the production medium.

Keywords

• acid hydrolysate
• sugarcane bagasse composition
• xylose-fermenting yeast
• xylitol