By-products of sugar factories and wineries as feedstocks for erythritol generation

Erythritol - a polyol suitable for human nutrition - is industrially produced by microorganisms from costly glucose-rich or starch-rich feedstocks. However, the utilization of sugary by-products from food industries could significantly reduce process costs. This study examined erythritol production from sugarcane molasses, beet molasses and surplus grape musts, by comparing four fungal strains. Beet molasses presented toxic effects on microorganisms, which hampered erythritol production to a certain extent. Moniliella pollinis attained erythritol production yields of 0.239 +/- 0.001 g/g from sugarcane molasses (106.40 +/- 0.42 g/L erythritol), 0.229 +/- 0.003 g/g from beet molasses (57.78 +/- 1.52 g/L), 0.362 +/- 0.005 g/g from red grape must (96.26 +/- 1.31 g/L) and 0.383 +/- 0.004 g/g from rose grapemust (92.84 +/- 0.98 g/L), with nearly total sugar consumption in 6-9 days. In comparison, control tests with a valuable feedstock (beet syrup) reached erythritol yields of 0.327 +/- 0.009 g/g(126.78 +/- 3.21 g/L). Therefore, erythritol production could be considered as a viable route incertain food industries aiming at market diversification. (c) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study compared four fungal strains for erythritol production from sugarcane molasses, beet molasses, and surplus grape musts. The results showed that beet molasses had toxic effects on microorganisms, which hindered erythritol production to a certain extent.