FERMENTATION OF WHEY AND STARCH BY TRANSFORMED SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE CELLS

Among the main agro-industrial wastes, whey and starch are of prime im portance. In previous work we showed that strains of Saccharomyces cer evisiae transformed with the episomal plasmid pM1 allow production of yeast biomass and ethanol from whey/lactose. Ethanol production from w hey and derivatives has been improved in computer-controlled bioreacto rs, while fermentation studies showed that the composition of the medi um greatly modulates the productivity (g ethanol produced/l in 1 h of fermentation). A yeast strain for the simultaneous utilization of lact ose and starch has also been developed. Biotechnological perspectives are discussed.