Factors affecting glycerol production by a bioconversion process with a triose phosphate isomerase deficient mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The economics of bioglycerol production depend on several factors such as selection of suitable microorganism, exploitation of inexpensive raw materials and optimization of the process. In this work we studied the influence of some parameters on the bioconversion process for the production of glycerol from glucose using a S. cerevisiae strain lacking triose phosphate isomerase activity. The results indicate that the mode of addition of carbon source affects glycerol yield. The bioconversion process can be carried out in a medium containing only glucose and phosphate; a glucose concentration over 20 g/L must be maintained in order to obtain high yield and productivity. The best growth condition to obtain efficient biomass for the bioconversion process is on rich media containing 1.5% ethanol and 0.1% glucose. It is important to collect the biomass at the end of the exponential phase of growth and after an induction in the presence of 0.1% glucose.