Ethanol productions from <scp>D</scp>‐xylose and cellobiose by <i>Kluyveromyces cellobiovorus</i>

Abstract

Yeasts capable of fermenting both D-xylose and cellobiose to ethanol were screened. Of 213 species of yeasts surveyed, Kluyveromyces cellobiovorus sp. nov., a new species belonging to genus of Kluyveromyces, was selected as the sole strain. This strain accumulated 32, 22, and 19 g/L of ethanol from 8% glucose, D-xylose, and cellobiose, respectively. It was also shown that this strain produced ethanol from the enzymatic bagasse hydrolysate containing hexoses and pentoses more efficiently than Saccharomyces cerevisiae.