초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P><B>BACKGROUND: High glucose and ethanol tolerance is among the most important requirements of ethanol‐producing microorganisms. The purpose of this study was evaluation of filamentous fungus <I>Mucor hiemalis</I> for ethanol production from wheat and starch hydrolysates with high glucose concentration.</B></P><P><B>RESULTS: The results showed high tolerance of the fungus in fermentation of the hydrolyzates with high glucose concentrations (as high as 190 g L<SUP>−1</SUP>). Interestingly, increasing the glucose concentration from 15 to 190 g L<SUP>−1</SUP> was accompanied by enhancement of initial sugar uptake rate. Ethanol was the most important metabolite obtained during all fermentations and its concentration reached over 50 g L<SUP>−1</SUP>. Beside ethanol, chitosan was another valuable product of the process. Glucosamine, a precursor of chitosan, made up 37.3–46.7% of the cell wall of this fungus.</B></P><P><B>CONCLUSIONS: <I>M. hiemalis</I> is a promising microorganism for simultaneous production of ethanol and chitosan from substrates with high sugar concentrations. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry</B></P>