Biotransformation of curcumin to vanillin

Abstract

An actinomycetes Rhodococcus rhodochrous MTCC 265 has been explored for its capability to transform curcumin to vanillin. The progress of formation of metabolites has been monitored by TLC and further confirmed by GC-MS after extraction with ethyl acetate. Growing culture of strain MTCC 265 produces 3.56 mg/L vanillin from 29.02 mg/L of natural curcumin (% yield of 13.05%) in biotransformation medium containing MSM, 0.2% glucose, 0.1% yeast extract and 0.1% peptone along with curcumin as substrate. Rhodococcus rhodochrous MTCC 265 has potential to be a good candidate for biotechnological production of vanillin from curcumin.