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The effect of culture conditions on xylitol production rate was investigated using Candida tropicalis IFO 0618. From the variance analysis of xylitol production rate, it was found that initial yeast extract concentration was highly significant (99%), while the interaction between D-xylose concentration and aeration rate was significant (95%). These results show the importance of initial yeast extract concentration and of the balance between D-xylose concentration and aeration in the production of xylitol. It was also clearly shown that C. tropicalis needed more yeast extract concentration for efficient xylitol production than for its growth. In order to enhance xylitol production rate, culture conditions were optimized by the Box-Wilson method. In this respect, initial D-xylose concentration, yeast extract concentration, and K(L)a were chosen as the independent factors in 2(3)-factorial experimental design. As the result of experiments, a maximum xylitol production rate of 2.67 g/L . h was obtained when initial D-xylose concentration and yeast extract concentration were 172.0 and 21.0 g/L, respectively, and K(L)a was 451.50 h(-1) by 90% oxygen gas.

A two-step fermentation process using Saccharomyces cerevisiae OC-2 (wine yeast) was studied. The first step, to multiply and immobilize yeast cells, was carried out by batch method (7 days) in a trickle bed bioreac-tor. In a second step, the substrate was continuously fermented by immobilized and free yeast cells in the same bioreactor. Continuous fermentation resulted in retention of 3% (W/V) of ethanol, 50 mg/L of isoamyl alcohol and 6 mg/L of β-phenethyl alcohol (the major aromatic components of fermented Worcestershire sauce). Maximum ethanol productivity was retained at 4.1–4.2 g/L/hr under continuous operation with immobilized yeasts, 3.2-fold higher than with the batch system.