Abstract:Organic biomass is an attractive feedstock for second generation alcohol production. Wild-type strains of the genus Candida showed capabilities different to produce alcohol fermenting a carbohydrates mixture (synthetic medium), individually and in co-culture. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to evaluate the capability of Candida wild-type strains isolated from termite gut and rumen liquid, to ferment the most commonly carbohydrates presented in citrus residues, individually and in co-culture to alcohol production. C. Tropicalis (LR4) presented higher percentage of carbohydrate consumption (74.20% ± 4.60%), alcohol production (44.53 ± 0.01 gL -1 ) and maximal alcohol productivity (6.40 ± 0.01 gL -1 day) than C. Glabrata (T1). Co-culture schemas, CC1 (LR4: 60%; T1: 40%) and CC3 (first LR4 alone and 2 days later T1) presented the highest alcohol production (45.20 ± 1.30 gL -1 and 46.80 ± 2.60 gL -1 , respectively). Maximal alcohol productivity was obtained with CC2 (LR4: 80%; T1: 20%) and CC3 schemas, 7.70 ± 0.29 gL -1 day and 7.80 ± 0.44 gL -1 day, respectively. The results suggest the usefulness of these wild-type strains in co-culture as an alternative to alcohol production from carbohydrates mixtures at concentrations commonly found in citrus waste.

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