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Fermentation of glycerol and production of valuable chemical and biofuel molecules

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Abstract

Glycerol has attracted the attention of scientific and industrial communities due to its generation in bulk quantities as a byproduct of biofuel industries. With the rapid growth of these industries in recent years, glycerol is frequently treated as a very low-value byproduct or even a waste product with a disposal cost associated to it. Glycerol is not only abundant and inexpensive but also can generate more reducing equivalents than glucose or xylose. This unique characteristic of glycerol offers a tremendous opportunity for its biological conversion to valuable products at higher yield. This review focuses on research efforts to utilize glycerol as a carbon source for the production of a variety of fuels and chemicals by both native and metabolically engineered microorganisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Synthetic Biology and Biofuel Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India

    Anu Jose Mattam & Syed Shams Yazdani

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-362, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    James M. Clomburg & Ramon Gonzalez

  3. Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Ramon Gonzalez

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  1. Anu Jose Mattam
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  2. James M. Clomburg
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  3. Ramon Gonzalez
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  4. Syed Shams Yazdani
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Correspondence to Ramon Gonzalez.

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Mattam, A.J., Clomburg, J.M., Gonzalez, R. et al. Fermentation of glycerol and production of valuable chemical and biofuel molecules. Biotechnol Lett 35, 831–842 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1240-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1240-4

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