A thermotolerant yeast capable of fermenting xylose to xylitol at 40 C was isolated and identified as a
strain of Debaryomyces hansenii by ITS sequencing. This paper reports the production of xylitol from
D-xylose and sugarcane bagasse hemicellulose by free and Ca-alginate immobilized cells of D. hansenii.
The efficiency of free and immobilized cells were compared for xylitol production from D-xylose and
hemicellulose in batch culture at 40 C. The maximum xylitol produced by free cells was 68.6 g/L from
100 g/L of xylose, with a yield of 0.76 g/g and volumetric productivity 0.44 g/L/h. The yield of xylitol
and volumetric productivity were 0.69 g/g and 0.28 g/L/h respectively from hemicellulosic hydrolysate
of sugarcane bagasse after detoxification with activated charcoal and ion exchange resins. The Ca-alginate
immobilized D. hansenii cells produced 73.8 g of xylitol from 100 g/L of xylose with a yield of
0.82 g/g and volumetric productivity of 0.46 g/L/h and were reused for five batches with steady bioconversion
rates and yields.