Whole Conversion of Soybean Molasses into Isomaltulose and Ethanol by Combining Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Successive Selective Fermentations

Isomaltulose is mainly produced from sucrose by microbial fermentation, when the utilization of sucrose contributes a high production cost. To achieve a low-cost isomaltulose production, soy molasses was introduced as an alternative substrate. Firstly, α-galactosidase gene from Rhizomucor miehei was expressed in Yarrowia lipolytica, which then showed a galactosidase activity of 121.6 U/mL. Under the effects of the recombinant α-galactosidase, most of the raffinose-family oligosaccharides in soy molasses were hydrolyzed into sucrose. Then the soy molasses hydrolysate with high sucrose content (22.04%, w/w) was supplemented into the medium, with an isomaltulose production of 209.4 g/L, and the yield of 0.95 g/g. Finally, by virtue of the bioremoval process using Pichia stipitis, sugar byproducts in broth were transformed into ethanol at the end of fermentation, thus resulting in high isomaltulose purity (97.8%). The bioprocess employed in this study provides a novel strategy for low-cost and efficient isomaltulose production from soybean molasses.