Enhanced production of verbenone from biotransformation of α -(+)- pinene with permeabilised cells of Gluconobacter japonicus mtcc 12284

Verbenone is a valuable aromatic chemical used in aromatherapy and as a food flavourant. Gluconobacter japonicus MTCC 12284 isolated from decayed yellow orange citrus fruits is reported for verbenone production from biotransformation of α -(+)- pinene .The present study focuses on increasing the yield of verbenone by permeabilising the cells of Gluconobacter japonicus with various chemical agents. The verbenone production was substantially increased by permeabilising the Gluconobacter cells with toluene, Kpi – n hexane, chloroform, acetone, ethanol and Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide respectively. The optimum working conditions for permeabilisation process to achieve maximum verbenone production was found to be 1% (v/v) of α -(+)- pinene at 33°C temperature and treatment time of 30min with 1% toluene which resulted in the production of 34.4 mg of verbenone (23.45% molar yield) at pH 6 at 275rpm in 30ml of production media in 96 hrs of incubation. Verbenone production was also found to be enhanced by ultrasonicating the bacterial cells using Tris Hcl sonication buffer. The concentration of verbenone produced by ultrasonication method was found to be 31.1mg equivalent to the molar yield of 21.1%.