Abstract
The yeast Candida tropicalis HP 15 was able to utilize phenol up to concentrations of 2.5 g/l as a sole carbon and energy source. Phenol was metabolized via the β‐ketoadipate pathway by an inducible enzyme system.Besides phenol, resorcinol, quinol, hydroxyquinol, catechol, and to a lesser extend 4‐chloro‐catechol, protocatechuate, p‐cresol, m‐chlorophenol, and p‐chlorophenol were metabolized by the yeast. A total of 30 aromatic compounds were tested as substrates.