Xylose-to-xylitol bioconversion by Ca-alginate entrapped Candida guilliermondii cells in sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate was carried out in erlenmeyer flasks using the repeated-batch mode of fermentation. The hydrolysate was supplemented or not with ammonium sulfate and/or rice bran extract at the beginning of each repeated batch. Altogether, six sets of three repeated-batches were carried out, the immobilized cells being reused at the end of each batch. The best results were achieved when the hydrolysate was supplemented with both nutrients in all the three repeated batches, which provided xylitol productions of 25.9, 46.8, 48.7 gL-1, productivities of 0.27, 0.49, 0.51 gL-1h-1, and yields of 0.45, 0.58, 0.55 gg-1, respectively. In the absence of nutrients, the xylitol production, productivity and yield did not exceed 12.1 gL-1, 0.13 gL-1h-1 and 0.30 gg-1, respectively.
Xylitol; Sugarcane bagasse; Hemicellulosic hydrolysate; Repeated-batch fermentation; Nutritional supplementation
