Influence of cultivation conditions on xylose-to-xylitol bioconversion by a new isolate of Debaryomyces hansenii

In this study we initially report the screening of new yeasts for the bioconversion of D-xylose to xylitol. The best strain isolated, classified as D. hansenii UFV-170, was then cultivated in batch runs at variable starting levels of xylose (So) and biomass (Xo) and agitation/aeration, in order to investigate the effects of these conditions on its metabolism. To this purpose, we used simple carbon material balances based on the knowledge about D. hansenii metabolism, which were already employed with success in similar biosystems