Materials, Methods & Technologies, Volume 4, 2010

Rezumat: The syntheses of valuable chemicals from alternative to petroleum sources by the use of microorganisms are unified in the term “white biotechnology”. The organic compounds production from waste glycerol is of increased interest, because million tones of this potential substrate are delivered from the biodiesel industry each year. The waste glycerol could be converted by the microbes of genus Klebsiella into several products, as 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) are of the major importance. In the last years, the investigations of bio-based production of 1,3-PD and 2,3-BD were developed in our country. New Klebsiella strains, good producers of both diols, were isolated and identified. The optimal conditions for diols receiving were studied. The nutrient medium compounds optimization was done, and the fermentation requirements for predominant production of different final metabolites were studied. The potential applications of Bulgarian isolates for glycerol utilization and the economical and environmental impact of this biotechnology were estimated.