A new fermentation process using a mixed sugar medium is proposed in this study for 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) production. The medium contained seven different monosugars known to be present in Nannochloropsis oceanica hydrolysate. The performance of each sugar when existing alone or together with glucose was evaluated. All the sugars except fucose were successfully metabolized for 2,3-BDO production. A 2,3-BDO yield of 0.31g/g was achieved with the mixed sugar medium, which was very close to that with the glucose-only medium. However, the 2,3-BDO productivity (0.28 g L(-1) h(-1) ) was found to be about 30% lower than that with glucose, implying, as expected, the existence of glucose repression on the uptake of other sugars. Strain development is in need to remove such negative effect of glucose for improved process efficiency. Fucose with the lowest uptake rate and no contribution to 2,3-BDO production can be a high value-added byproduct, once recovered and purified.

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Microalgal biomass was hydrolyzed using a solid acid catalyst with the aid of liquid acid. The use of solid acid as the main catalyst instead of liquid acid was to omit subsequent neutralization and/or desalination steps, which are commonly required in using the resulting hydrolysates for microbial fermentation. The hydrolysis of 10 g/L of lipid‐extracted Chlorella vulgaris containing 12.2% carbohydrates using 7.6 g/L Amberlyst 36 and 0.0075 N nitric acid at 150°C resulted in 1.08 g/L of mono‐sugars with a yield of 88.5%. For hydrolysis of higher concentrations of the biomass over 10 g/L, the amount of Amberlyst 36 needed to be increased in proportion to the biomass concentration to maintain similar levels of hydrolysis performance. Increasing the solid acid concentration protected the surface of the solid acid from being severely covered by cell debris during the reaction. A hydrolysate of lipid‐extracted C. vulgaris 50 g/L was used, with no post‐treatment of desalination, for the cultivation of Klebsiella oxytoca producing 2,3‐butanediol. Cell growth in the hydrolysate was found to be almost the same as in the conventional medium with the same monosaccharide composition, confirming its fermentation compatibility. It was noticeable that the yield of 2,3‐butanediol with the hydrolysate was observed to be 2.6 times higher than that with the conventional medium. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2729, 2019

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