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.