Screening of Burkholderia sp. WGB31 producing anisic acid from anethole and optimization of fermentation conditions.

Abstract

Anisic acid, the precursor of a variety of food flavors and industrial raw materials, can be bioconversed from anethole which extracted from star anise fruits. WGB31 strain with anisic acid molar production rate of 10.25% was isolated and identified as Burkholderia sp. Three significant influential factors, namely, glucose concentration, initial pH value, and medium volume were selected and their effects were evaluated by Box-Behnken Design (BBD). Regression analysis was performed to determine response surface methodology and the significance was tested to obtain the process model of optimal conditions for producing anisic acid. The fermentation conditions at the stable point of the model were obtained: glucose 6 g L(-1) , pH 6.2, culture medium volume 61 mL in a triangular flask with 250 ml volume. Verification test indicated that the production rate of anisic acid was 30.7%, which was three times of that before optimizing. The results provide a basis and reference for producing anisic acid by microbial transformation.