Biotransformation of ferulic acid to 4-vinyl guaiacol by Lactobacillus farciminis

Continuously growing demand for natural flavors has led to a tremendous increase in biotransformation process employing microorganisms of different genera using ferulic acid (FA) as the precursor. In this study, potential of Lactobacillus farciminis (ATCC 29644) for biotransformation of FA to 4-vinyl guaiacol (4VG) was investigated. 4-vinyl guaiacol is a volatile phenol, reported to have 40 fold higher economic value than FA and is biotransformable to acetovanillone, ethylguaiacol and vanillin. Biotransformation process started after 5 h incubation of L. farciminis with FA in Man Regosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth at 37°C under 5% CO2. Production rate was observed at its maximum after 48 h. Formed 4VG was identified by GC-MS (QQQ) and quantification was done by HPLC UV-Vis. The impact of initial concentrations of FA and bacteria on the production of 4VG was studied. The results indicate that the production of 4VG is significantly affected by initial concentration of FA, and empirically 1, 15 and 50 mg/l of FA yielded 0, 3.34 and 10.26 mg/l of 4VG, respectively. The findings are a milestone towards safe high yielding means of biotransforming some common agro-industrial wastes to a value added product. Key words: Lactobacillus farciminis, ferulic acid, 4-vinyl guaiacol, biotransformation.