Bioconversions of citral and (+/-)-citronellal by Saccharomyces cerevisae-2415

Microbial transformation of citral and (+/-)-citronellal to geraniol and ()-citronellol have been carried out by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae-24 15. The bioreductions are catalyzed by the whole-cell organism in liquid me dium containning maltose, yeast extract, peptone and mineral salts at pH 5. 2 and at a temperature of 30-32 degrees C. The optimum time, temperature, p H and growth of the organism with respect to yield of the alcohols have bee n established. The biotransformation products have been isolated and their structures determined by FTIR, H-1 and C-13 NMR and CC-MS spectra. The stud y offers an easy method for converting citral and (+/-)-citronellal to thei r corresponding alcohols geraniol and (+)-citronellol, respectively at sati sfactorily high yields (64 to 68 %).