ProcessOptimizationand Characterization of Enhanced Vanillin Yield Using Bacillus aryabhattai NCIM 5503

Vanillin is a strong flavor used widely in food industries, but the quantity of this compound from plant sources is minimal. In the present study, vanillin was produced as bio-vanillin usingbiotechnological techniques and effectsof theprocess parameters (carbon-source, nitrogen-source and pH) on ferulic acid bioconversion to vanillin for enhancing vanillin concentrationwere studiedusing Bacillus aryabhattaiNCIM 5503.

Briefly, culture media included 5 g l-1each carbon (glucose, sucrose, fructose, sorbitol, lactose, xylitol and mannitol) and nitrogen (ammonium sulphate, peptone, beef extract, yeast extract and urea) sources in distilled water supplemented with 5% (w v-1) of ferulic acid and 1% (v v-1) of Bacillus aryabhattai NCIM 5503 as inoculum at apH range of 4.5-12. Fermentation broth was extracted using centrifuge and further analyzed for the presence of vanillin using spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography.

This study revealed that a maximum vanillin concentration of 0.87 g l-1was achieved under optimum conditions(culture media with fructose and beef extract at pH 9) of30 ºCand 150 rpm. Furthermore, vanillin in the extracted fermented broth was characterized using high-performance liquid chromatographyand spectrophotometric analysis with thiobarbituric acid assay at 55 ºC for 10 min followed by 20 min of incubation at room temperature.