Ethanol production using a newly isolated Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain directly assimilating intact inulin with a high degree of polymerization.

An inulin-degrading strain L610, which was competent to directly convert inulin into ethanol, was isolated and identified as a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae according to physiological and phylogenetic analysis. Ion chromatography results showed that isolate L610 could assimilate the intact inulin completely without acidic or enzymatic pretreatment in contrast to the previously reported strains of S. cerevisiae, which could only ferment the fructo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization less than 15. Strain L610 yielded 37.2 g/L ethanol within 48 H at a shake flask level under the evaluated culture conditions (11% inulin, 0.4% yeast extract, and 0.05% MgSO4 at 30 °C and pH 6.0). The conversion efficiency of inulin-type sugar to ethanol was 60% of the theoretical ethanol yield. Strain L610 produced 40.0 g/L of ethanol when directly fermented in Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) powder suspension within 24 H, which was higher than the reported data, 28.9 g/L, produced by S. cerevisiae KCCM 50549.