Xylitol is an alternative sweetener that is recommended for use in food and pharmaceutical products, as it has some health benefits. It is currently produced on a large scale using a chemical reduction that requires high energy and is costly. Biological conversion of xylitol using microorganisms is an alternative process that is environmentally friendly and cost-effective. This process has been studied in an effort to provide one that is high yielding and competitive with chemical processes. This article reviews recent studies in the development of biological conversion processes for the production of xylitol, including biomass conversion, fermenting microorganisms, and new technology for full-scale process development.

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Xylitol is an extracellular sugar alcohol produced by the biological conversion of xylose through the fermentation process. The present study investigates the reaction kinetics of xylitol fermentation by considering the effect of substrate and product concentration on the microbial growth rate. A 3.5-L batch fermentation produced xylitol at different xylose concentrations and agitation speeds. The experimental data showed that the xylose concentration limit was less than 100 g/L and that increasing the xylose concentration reduced the xylitol and cell yields. The optimum agitation speed was 400 rpm with a kLa value of 32.6 h−1. The experimental data were used to estimate the unknown parameters with gPROMS software. The Monod model was modified to include the inhibitory effect of the substrate and the limitation effect of dissolved oxygen on cell growth.

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