Arabitol, or arabinitol, is a sugar alcohol. It can be formed by the reduction of either arabinose. Some organic acid tests check for the presence of <small>D</small>-arabitol, which may indicate overgrowth of intestinal microbes such as Candida albicans or other yeast/fungus species.
Arabitol and lyxitol are diastereomeric pentitols, differing in the configuration of two stereocenters. Arabitol was initially produced, soon after its discovery, through the catalytic reduction of D-arabinose or D-lixose. It can be obtained in two spatial forms: L-arabitol and D-arabitol.
Industrial production of arabitol has traditionally relied on chemical reduction of oxidized arabinose derivatives, including lactones, arabinonic acid and lixonic acid. These processes require high temperatures (around 100 ðC) and expensive catalysts, and generally involve extensive purification of the feedstock prior to catalytic reduction.
Biotechnological production routes have also been developed. L-arabitol can be obtained by microbial fermentation using organisms capable of metabolizing L-arabinose, including Candida tropicalis, Pichia stipitis and Debaryomyces hansenii, as well as genetically engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Most reported studies have used batch cultivation with synthetic L-arabinose as substrate, although lignocellulosic hydrolysates such as sisal bagasse and soybean flour hydrolysates have also been evaluated.