Evaluation of oil palm front hydrolysate as a novel substrate for 2,3-butanediol production using a novel isolate Enterobacter cloacae SG1

•Oil palm frond hydrolysate is a promising substrate for 2,3-butanediol production.•Novel isolate Enterobacter cloacae SG1 found to be a potent producer of 2,3-BDO.•14.67 g/l of 2,3-butanediol with 48.9% yield using glucose as the carbon source.•Production of 7.67 g/l of 2,3-butanediol using OPF hydrolysate.

The present work deals the production of 2,3-butanediol, an industrially important chemical, through biological route using a novel bacterial isolate. Batch fermentation trials for the production of 2,3-butanediol were carried out using the isolated strain Enterobacter cloacae SG-1. The study resulted 14.67 g/l of 2,3-butanediol with 48.9% yield using glucose as the carbon source. In order to replace the expensive glucose in the production media, non-detoxified oil palm frond hydrolysate was used as the carbon source and it resulted 2,3-butanediol yield of 7.67 g/l. Process parameters like pH, temperature and initial sugar concentration were optimized. The ability of strain E. cloacae SG-1 for utilization various pentoses and hexoses were evaluated and found that the strain can utilize both arabinose and glucose with a comparable 2,3-butanediol yield.