Sugar beet diffusion juice and syrup as media for ethanol and levan production byZymomonas mobilis

Abstract Sugar beet is an important crop cultivated widely in Europe. Roots contain up to 6–9 t/ha of fermentable sugar. Our laboratory is targeting to investigate the production possibilities of ethanol and levan by Zymomonas mobilis bacteria, using sugar beet juice or their syrup as raw material. The Z.mobilis strain 113 “S”;, selected in our institute, produces simultaneously with ethanol up to 40–70 g/1 fructose polymer levan in sucrose medium. It was established that Z.mobilis can convert sucrose into ethanol and levan in batch fermentation using natural sugar beet diffusion juice, without additives of mineral salts and growth factors. Syrup obtained in sugar industrial production by c…