Use of bacterial cellulose to produce enzymatically active biomass of Debaryomyces hansenii yeast – a biocatalyst for the enantioselective reduction of acetophenone to S-1-phenylethanol

The study investigates the potential use of a biocomposite composed of bacterial cellulose and Debaryomyces hansenii yeast in enantioselective biocatalysis to produce enantiopure secondary alcohols. As a result of testing three strains of Debaryomyces hansenii yeast, it was determined that in the presence of an exogenous reducing agent (isopropanol), the biomass of strain D-43-1 reduces acetophenone enantioselectively to highly enantiopure S-1-phenylethanol (at least 99%). Cell immobilization of the Debaryomyces hansenii strain D-43-1 on a bacterial cellulose gel film yielded a biocomposite for the study of its effectiveness as a biocatalyst for acetophenone reduction or as an immobilized inoculum for the production of yeast biomass with carbonyl reductase activity. The use of biocomposite as a biocatalyst was found to be impossible: the product of acetophenone reduction was not detected in the reaction mixture. When used as an immobilized inoculum, biocomposite intensifies the production of enzymatically active yeast biomass suitable for the enantioselective reduction of acetophenone to enantiopure S-1-phenylethanol. The biomass yield achieved in the first fermentation cycle using the immobilized inoculant is three times higher than that produced using the planktonic inoculum. Four repeated fermentations during a 15-hour cell culture consistently achieve a biomass yield of approximately 13 g/L, which is almost twice the level achieved over the same period of time using planktonic inoculum. Biomass obtained using the biocomposite was shown to be reusable. At a biomass dry weight concentration of 40 g/L, the product yield consistently reaches 86–88% during the four transformation cycles, decreasing to 65% only in the fifth cycle.

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