CLA production from ricinoleic acid by lactic acid bacteria

Abstract The ability to produce CLA from ricinoleic acid is widely distributed in lactic acid bacteria. Washed cells of Lactobacillus plantarum JCM 1551 were selected as a potential catalyst for CLA production from ricinoleic acid. Cells cultivated in medium supplemented with a mixture of α‐linolenic acid and linoleic acid showed enhanced CLA productivity. Under optimal reaction conditions, with the free acid form of ricinoleic acid as the substrate and washed cells of L. plantarum as the catalyst, 2.4 mg/mL CLA was produced from 3.4 mg/mL ricinoleic acid in 90 h, with a molar yield with respect to ricinoleic acid of 71%. The CLA produced, which was obtained in the FFA form, consisted of a mixture of two CLA isomers, cis ‐9, trans ‐11‐octadecadienoic acid (21% of total CLA) and trans ‐9, trans ‐11‐octadecadienoic acid (79% of total CLA), and accounted for 72% of the total FA obtained.