BACKGROUND: Glycerol, a major by-product of biodiesel production, is used as a sole carbon source

This study illustrates the advantages of inorganic nutrients supplementation over organic nutrient supplementation for a lower media cost and a higher dihydroxyacetone (DHA) production yield through Gluconobacter frateurii BCC 36199 cultivation. The study found that the use of media that contain only glycerol and inorganic salts enhanced DHA production (DHA-Prod) while keeping the production of bacterial biomass at a sufficient level. Most of the starting material, that is, glycerol, is converted into DHA, which is the target of the production process. The cost of the nitrogen supplement in the DHA-Prod process may be reduced by up to 80% through the use of the inorganic culture medium that has been developed in this study.