Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Production of l-phenylacetylcarbinol by fermentation

1997; Elsevier BV; Volume: 84; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0922-338x(97)81900-9

1872-8073

Chandrakant Mani Tripathi, Suresh Chandra Agarwal, Samar Basu,

Amino Acid Enzymes and Metabolism

In pharmaceutical industry, l-phenylacetylcarbinol (l-PAC) is used as an intermediate for the production of l-ephedrine hydrochloride—a well known bronchodilator. Certain yeast strains are known to transform benzaldehyde to produce l-PAC with the help of a specific enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and pyruvate. Simultaneously another by-product, benzyl alcohol is also produced by another enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Strains belonging to the genera Saccharomyces and Candida have been found to be more efficient l-PAC producers as comparison to other yeasts. The formation of l-PAC is determined by the growth and biotransformation conditions. In the presence of benzaldehyde, cell growth is adversely affected and l-PAC production is low. Harvested whole cells immobilized in different carriers have shown tolerance for higher benzaldehyde doses and increased l-PAC yield has been obtained with semicontinuous mode of benzaldehyde biotransformation. Strain improvement also has effectively enhanced the yield of l-PAC. Studies with isolated PDC enzyme have shown significant potential for improving the l-PAC yield.