Cellulose-rich residue was obtained by a pectinase treatment of sugar beet
pulp and was enzymatically degraded to produce cellobiose. From sugar beet
pulp, the hydrolysis yielded 5.3% of cellobiose and 3.8% of glucose. The ce
llobiose-rich fraction was added in a culture medium of the filamentous fun
gus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus to test it as an activator of vanillin producti
on. Adding the sugar beet-derived cellobiose-rich fraction to a 3-day-old c
ulture yielded a 3.3-fold increase in vanillin production when compared to
a culture devoid of cellobiose, while commercial cellobiose yielded a 3.1-f
old increase. (C) 1999 Society of Chemical Industry.