Glycerol production by fermentation

Abstract

In the context of rapidly depleting petroleum reserves, production of chemicals from renewable carbohydrate-rich resources has assumed importance and a particularly good candidate process is the production of glycerol by fermentation. Of the various osmophilic and nonosmophilic yeasts tested for glycerol yields, two osmophilic yeasts were selected for further studies. The effect of sodium chloride concentration, inoculum size, and nitrogen content of the medium have been investigated. Centrifugation and recycling of cells does not appreciably affect the glycerol yield and fermentation times.