Efficient preparation of sophorose from fermentation broth via a newly developed integrated separation process

Sophorose is a rare and valuable disaccharide with an unusual β -1,2 bond. Despite the relatively widespread interest in sophorose, the information regarding sophorose is limited because sophorose is not readily accessible. Thus, we used Candida bombicola ATCC 22214 for the efficient fermentative production of sophorose using glucose and soybean oil as substrates. In addition, an integrated separation process comprising precipitation, extraction, electrodialysis, and column chromatography was developed to purify the sophorose. Sophorose (approximately 35   g/L) was produced under optimized fermentation conditions in terms of the feeding strategy and enhanced mass-transfer efficiency. Thereafter, approximately 38% of sophorose (purity above 99%) was recovered from fermentation broth through the proposed process. This study provides an efficient approach for the large-scale preparation of sophorose, which is helpful for its practical application and in-depth research.