Screening of microorganisms for bioconversion of (-)β-pinene and R-(+)-limonene to α-terpineol

This work is focused on the bioconversion of (-)beta-pinene and R-(+)-limonene to alpha-terpineol. To carry out the present study, 400 microorganisms were tested for their ability to bioconvert the substrates. From the microorganisms, no one was able to convert R-(+)-limonene and 4 were able to bioconvert (-)-beta-pinene to oxygenated monoterpenes. The metabolites recovered were a-terpineol (2856.54 +/- 50.23 mg/L) and fenchol (traces) for Aspergillus niger ATCC 16404, alpha-terpineol (688.13 +/- 41.27 mg/L) for A. niger ATCC 9642, alpha-terpineol (172.07 +/- 32.94 mg/L) for A. niger ATCC 1004 and alpha-terpineol (24.38 +/- 2.78 mg/L) and trans-pinocarveol (traces) for Penicillium camembertii ATCC 4845. After screening and optimization experiments, the best experimental condition for bioconversion of (-)beta-pinene to alpha-terpineol was established using A. niger ATCC 16404 at 35 degrees C without addition of vitamin solution, yielding a conversion in alpha-terpineol of 15494.34 +/- 193.87 mg/L. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.