Int J Biol Sci 2010; 6(7):834-844. doi:10.7150/ijbs.6.834 This issue Cite
Review
1. Biorefining Research Initiative and Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada
2. State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology and College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, P. R. China
3. Department of Chemistry, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada
D-Xylitol is found in low content as a natural constituent of many fruits and vegetables. It is a five-carbon sugar polyol and has been used as a food additive and sweetening agent to replace sucrose, especially for non-insulin dependent diabetics. It has multiple beneficial health effects, such as the prevention of dental caries, and acute otitis media. In industry, it has been produced by chemical reduction of D-xylose mainly from photosynthetic biomass hydrolysates. As an alternative method of chemical reduction, biosynthesis of D-xylitol has been focused on the metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida strains. In order to detect D-xylitol in the production processes, several detection methods have been established, such as gas chromatography (GC)-based methods, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based methods, LC-MS methods, and capillary electrophoresis methods (CE). The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are compared in this review.
Keywords: D-xylitol, Bioconversion production, Detection methods, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida.