Abstract: Erythritol, a natural sweetener, is widely used in the food, medicinal and chemical industries because of its advantages of low calorie, good stability and high food safety. Yarrowia lipolytica is widely used as an efficient fermentation strain for erythritol production. However, the current research on erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica concentrates on control of the fermentation process and metabolic pathway regulation and has bottlenecks in the yield of erythritol and the fermentation process. On this basis, this article reviews recent progress in research on erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica from three aspects: fermentation substrate utilization, fermentation process control and metabolic pathway modification by genetic engineering. This review is expected to provide a reference for breaking the bottlenecks in erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica.

Key words: Yarrowia lipolytica; erythritol; fermentation; metabolic pathways