Microbial Production of Optically Pure l-Iditol by Yeast Strains.

Several yeast strains belonging to genus Candida were found to selectively hydrogenate l-sorbose with enantiomeric specificity, yielding optically pure l-iditol in the culture broth. The most active strain, isolated from a commercial lemon, was identified as Candida intermedia, which produced 50 g of l-iditol per liter from 150 g of l-sorbose per liter during a 5-day fermentation period (35% yield).