2-phenylethanol (rose aroma) production potential of an isolated pichia kudriavzevii through solid-state fermentation

2-phenylethanol (2-PE) is a higher alcohol widely used in industry that can be obtained by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using low-cost raw materials. This report describes the 2-PE production potential of an indigenous Pichia kudriavzevii isolated from solid-state fermented sugarcane bagasse that possesses attractive characteristics for processing waste streams such as its low-pH tolerance, high growth rate and temperature resistance. Besides, 2-PE production was optimized in batch-SSF using sugarcane bagasse supplemented with l-phenylalanine as substrate. Full factorial design allowed identifying the pH adjustment, micronutrient addition, inoculum and co-substrate load effects, and response surface methodology served to identify the maximum production based on temperature, initial moisture content (MC₀) and specific airflow rate (S_AFR). While the pH adjustment and micronutrient addition did not affect the 2-PE production, temperature and MC₀ resulted critical for the process. After optimization, the maximum 2-PE content was 27.2 ± 0.2 mg per gram of dry substrate at 31 °C, 76 % MC₀ and 0.129 L h^?1 g^?1 S_AFR. This result was 23.8 % higher than the sub-optimal condition, and it is the highest 2-PE production via SSF reported so far. These results confirm the ability of P. kudriavzevii for producing 2-PE, and its potential for using waste streams as substrate.