CONSTRUCTION OF A FLOCCULATING YEAST FOR FRUCTOSE PRODUCTION FROM INULIN

Construction of flocculating yeast lacking for fructose utilisation wa s realised by integration of the FLO1 flocculation gene in the ribosom al DNA of an hexokinase deficient (hxk1, hxk2) Saccharomyces cerevisia e strain (ATCC36859). Simultaneous production of ethanol and fructose was obtained from glucose/fructose mixtures or from hydrolysed Jerusal em artichoke extracts using the transformed yeast in batch fermentatio ns and in a continuous reactor with internal biomass recycle. This all owed the production of 5 g ethanol/L and 48 g sugars/L containing up t o 99 % fructose from diluted hydrolysed Jerusalem artichoke extracts c ontaining 60 g sugars/L.