Overliming effects on xylitol production from sago trunk hydrolysate

• Main Authors: Mohamad, Nurul Lina, Mustapa Kamal, Siti Mazlina, Abdullah, Abdul Ghani Liew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2011
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18184/1/%2323%20Pg%20415-422.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18184/; http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JST%20Vol.%2019%20%282%29%20Jul.%202011/%2323%20Pg%20415-422.pdf

Xylitol can be obtained from lignocellulosic materials containing xylose. However, the fraction of lignocellulose converted through dilute acid hydrolysis contains compounds that inhibit the fermenting micro-organisms. These inhibitors can be removed from the hydrolysate by detoxification method, prior to fermentation. This study describes effectiveness of overliming process to reduce the toxicity of hydrolysates generated from pre-treatment of sago trunk for xylitol production. The overliming pH 9 and 10 was studied and the results showed that pH 9 was showed 20% of sugar loss, which is low compared to pH 10. Candida tropicalis strain was used to evaluate the fermentability of overlimed sago trunk hydrolysate at pH 9 and non-overlimed hydrolysate medium. Meanwhile, Xylitol accumulation and productivity in the overlimed medium was found to be higher than the non-treated medium. The maximum production of xylitol was increased up to 74% and converted within 76 h. The results obtained improved the fermentation process when compared with the non-treated medium.