To promote the effective use of raw glycerol, 13 yeast strains with the ability to produce mannitol from glycerol were isolated from environmental samples. Of the 13 strains, strain 7-12G was selected as an efficient mannitol producer from 25% (w/v) glycerol and was identified as Candida azyma by morphological, physicochemical, and phylogenetic analyses. When the ability to produce mannitol from raw glycerol in flask culture was compared among strains 7-12G, NBRC10406 (the type strain of C. azyma), and related strains, strain NBRC10406 exhibited the highest production level (31.8 g/l). Culture in jar fermentors was next investigated, and mannitol production reached 50.8 g/I over 7 days, corresponding to 0.30 g/g-glycerol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported level of mannitol produced by a microbe from glycerol under batch-type culture conditions. (C) 2013, The Society for Biotechnology, japan. All rights reserved.