Production of mannitol by Penicillium strains

Eleven different strains of Penicillium were screened for production of mannitol. All strains produced both mannitol and glycerol. Some of the strains also produced arabitol and/or erythritol in lower amounts. The highest amount of mannitol (43 g dm −3 ) was produced by Pencillium scabrosum IBT JTER 4, and the highest combined yield of mannitol and glycerol (65 g dm −3 ) was obtained with Pencillium aethiopicum IBT MILA 4 when grown on 150 g dm −3 sucrose and 20 g dm −3 yeast extract. These yields are comparable to yields obtained with Aspergillus strains after a considerable optimization effort. It is thus likely that biotechnological production of mannitol may benefit from the development of suitable Penicillium strains.