Biorefinery potential of newly isolated yeast Clavispora lusitaniae for co-production of erythritol and ethanol

This study reports the biorefinery potential of a newly isolated yeast, Clavispora lusitaniae JARR-1, for production of erythritol as a sweet low-calorie food additive, along with co-production of ethanol as a biofuel candidate. The co-production process for synthesis of ethanol and erythritol was optimized using two-stage response surface methodology employing Placket-Burman (PB) and Central Composite Rotatable (CCR) designs. PB design indicated that the medium components, glucose, peptone, urea, and MgSO4, significantly affected (p < 0.05) erythritol production. Furthermore, optimization of erythritol and ethanol co-production process by CCR design revealed the significant (p < 0.05) interactive effects of glucose and peptone on erythritol production and glucose, peptone, and MgSO4 on ethanol production. Under optimized co-production process, maximum titers of erythritol and ethanol were 22.02 ± 0.04 g/L and 68.00 ± 0.02 g/L, respectively. The optimized process resulted in fivefold increase in erythritol production. Thus, C. lusitaniae JARR-1 has potential for sustainable co-production of erythritol and ethanol using biorefinery approach. • Erythritol production by Clavispora lusitaniae JARR-1 • Erythritol and ethanol co-production optimization by RSM • fivefold erythritol production (from 4.2 ± 0.19 to 22.02 ± 0.04 g/L) after optimization • Glucose (20% wt.) & peptone (3% wt.) significantly affected erythritol production • Maximum ethanol co-production of 68.00 ± 0.02 g/L