Evaluation of xylitol sweetener production by Candida guilliermondii

Xylitol is a naturally five–carbon polyol with a high sweetening ability. The biotechnological production of xylitol by microorganisms specially yeasts is very environmentally safe and has been studied as an alternative to the chemical method. The purpose of this study was xylitol production by Candida guilliermondii that isolated from spores of Zinnia.

The xylitol producing yeast strain was isolated on Yeast extract Pepton Xylose  (YePX) medium. The identity of strains was confirmed using PCR reaction. The xylitol produced by the strains was analyzed using tine layer chromatography (TLC) and specific kits. The concentration of Xylitol produced in this experiment was quantified using HPLC method.

The xylitol producing yeast strain was isolated from pollen of Zinnia elegans flower and was identified by 16S rRNA sequence analysis as Candida guilliermondii. This strain produced 24.67 g l-1 xylitol after 72 hours in medium contained 40 g l-1 xylose.

In this study xylitol was produced by Candida guilliermondii isolated from the nature. According to the properties of xylitol and the difficulties through chemical production of this compound, the sweetener produced by biotechnological methods can be used as an attractive sugar in the nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical industries.