Effects of amino acids on the fermentation of inulin or glucose to produce R,R‐2,3‐butanediol using Paenibacillus polymyxa ZJ‐9

This study investigated the effects of different amino acids on the fermentation of pure inulin and glucose using Paenibacillus polymyxa ZJ‐9 in order to improve the production of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol (R,R‐2,3‐BD) respectively. The inulin extract from Jerusalem artichoke tubers contained 19 common amino acids, which were detected by HPLC. Arg featured the highest content (1290 mg l−1). A single add‐back experiment of 20 common amino acids indicated that Asn, Ser, His and Arg are key amino acids in R,R‐2,3‐BD synthesis during inulin fermentation using P. polymyxa ZJ‐9. The corresponding yields of R,R‐2,3‐BD reached 24·32, 22·32, 22·03 and 21·04 g l−1 after the four key amino acids (1·5 g l−1 each) and glucose were evaluated in this fermentation. The yields were considerably higher than that of the control group (12·11 g l−1). With the addition of the mixture of four amino acids (1·5 g l−1 each), the highest yields of R,R‐2,3‐BD (25·07 and 17·47 g l−1) were obtained with the increase of 107·0 and 89·1% during the fermentation of glucose and pure inulin respectively. Significance and Impact of the Study Paenibacillus polymyxa is a micro‐organism with a reported potential for industrialized production of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol. The nitrogen sources have a significant effect on R,R‐2,3‐butanediol formation using P. polymyxa. This study demonstrated a highly efficient new method to improve the yield of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol without adding other nitrogen sources except amino acids during the fermentation. This will therefore decrease the production cost of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol and provide a new strategy for promoting synthesis of amino acid‐dependent products. Significance and Impact of the Study: Paenibacillus polymyxa is a micro‐organism with a reported potential for industrialized production of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol. The nitrogen sources have a significant effect on R,R‐2,3‐butanediol formation using P. polymyxa. This study demonstrated a highly efficient new method to improve the yield of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol without adding other nitrogen sources except amino acids during the fermentation. This will therefore decrease the production cost of R,R‐2,3‐butanediol and provide a new strategy for promoting synthesis of amino acid‐dependent products.