Isolation of a Bacillus sp capable of transforming isoeugenol to vanillin

Natural aroma compounds are of major interest to the flavor and fragrance i ndustry. Due to the limited sources for natural aromas, there is a growing interest in developing alternative sources for natural aroma compounds, and in particular aromatic aldehydes. In several microbial species aromatic al dehydes are detected as intermediates in the degradation pathway of phenylp ropanoids. Thus, bioconversion of phenylpropanoids is one possible route fo r the production of these aroma compounds. The present work describes the i solation of microbial strains, capable of producing vanillin from isoeugeno l. Bacterial strains isolated from soil, were screened for their ability to transform isoeugenol to vanillin. One of these strains, strain B2, was fou nd to produce high amounts of vanillin when grown in the presence of isoeug enol, and was also capable of growing on isoeugenol as the sole carbon sour ce. Based on its fatty acids profile, strain B2 was identified as a Bacillu s subtilis sp. The bioconversion capabilities of strain B2 were tested in g rowing cultures and cell free extracts. In the presence of isoeugenol, a gr owing cultures of B. subtilis B2 produced 0.61 g l(-1) vanillin (molar yiel d of 12.4%), whereas cell free extracts resulted in 0.9 g l(-1) vanillin (m olar yield of 14%). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.