Valorization of lignin for the production of vanillin by Bacillus aryabhattai NCIM 5503

Abstract

Coconut coir waste is a rich lignocellulosic biomass. The coconut coir waste generated from temples is resistant to natural degradation, and its accumulation causes environmental pollution. Ferulic acid, a vanillin precursor, was extracted from the coconut coir waste by hydro-distillation extraction. The extracted ferulic acid was used for vanillin synthesis by Bacillus aryabhattai NCIM 5503 under submerged fermentation. In the present study, the Taguchi DOE (design of experiment) software was used to optimize the fermentation process, which resulted in a 1.3 fold increase in vanillin yield (640.96 ± 0.02 mg/L), as compared to the unoptimized yield of 495.96 ± 0.01 mg/L. The optimized media for enhanced vanillin production comprised; fructose 0.75 % (w/v), beef extract 1 % (w/v), pH 9, temperature 30℃, agitation speed 100 rpm, trace metal solution 1 % (v/v), and ferulic acid 2 % (v/v). The results show that the commercial production of vanillin can be envisioned using coconut coir waste.