The simultaneous production of gluconate and sorbitol from glucose and fructose was carried out by using permeabilized cells of Z. mobilis. In batch operation with permeabilized free cells, conversion yield was as high as 95% within 20 hrs at the concentrations of glucose and fructose of 300 g/L (total 600 g/L). For the developement of economic process, permeabilized cells were immobilized in alginate. For the production of gluconate and sorbitol, the operational conditions were optimized; pH was 6.2 and temperature was 39'C. In batch process with immobilized cells, the conversion was 90% after 35 hrs. To increas the productivity, continuous production was carried out at different concentrations of substrates by using immobilized cells. When each concentration of feeding substrates was 300 g/L, the maximum productivity was found to be 14.5 g/L-hr at the dilution rate of 0.075 /hr.
