Mineral Supplementation Increases Erythrose Reductase Activity in Erythritol Biosynthesis from Glycerol by Yarrowia lipolytica

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of divalent copper, iron, manganese, and zinc ions on the production of erythritol from glycerol by Yarrowia lipolytica and their effect on the activity of erythrose reductase. No inhibitory effect of the examined minerals on yeast growth was observed in the study. Supplementation with MnSO4·7H2O (25 mg l−1) increased erythritol production by Y. lipolytica by 14.5 %. In the bioreactor culture with manganese ion addition, 47.1 g l−1 of erythritol was produced from 100.0 g l−1 of glycerol, which corresponded to volumetric productivity of 0.87 g l−1 h−1. The addition of Mn2+ enhanced the intracellular activity of erythrose reductase up to 24.9 U g−1 of dry weight of biomass (DW), hence, about 1.3 times more than in the control.