Production of L-sorbitol from L-fructose by Aureobasidium pullulans LP23 isolated from soy sauce mash

A strain LP23 that can convert L-fructose to L-sorbitol was isolated from soy sauce mash and identified as Aureobasidium pullulans. The cells grown on L-arabinose were found to have relatively high L-fructose to L-sorbitol conversion potential. Addition of erythritol to the reaction mixture considerably accelerated the conversion rate of L-fructose to L-sorbitol. During the conversion reaction, erythritol was added to the reaction mixture at 8-h intervals to maintain the concentration of erythritol at 1.0%. The final conversion ratios were 82.8%, 95.3%, 92.4%, and 42.6% using washed cells when the concentrations of L-fructose were 1.0%, 2.0%, 5.0% and 10.0%, respectively. The product from L-fructose was identified as L-sorbitol by HPLC analysis, infrared spectroscopy, optical rotation and melting point measurements.