Complete Enzymatic Recovery of Ferulic Acid From Corn Residues With Extracellular Enzymes From Neosartorya spinosa NRRL185

• Published in: Biotechnology and bioengineering Vol. 95; no. 6; pp. 1108 - 1115
• Main Authors: Shin, Hyun-Dong, McClendon, Shara, Le, Tien, Taylor, Frank, Chen, Rachel Ruizhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 20.12.2006; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Acids; Benzaldehydes - chemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Biotechnology; Biotechnology - methods; biotransformation; Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases - chemistry; Cells; cellulases; corn; corn bran; corn fiber; Coumaric Acids - chemistry; crop residues; Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases - chemistry; enzymatic hydrolysis; enzyme activity; Enzymes; esterases; Eurotiales - enzymology; ferulic acid; ferulic acid esterase; Flowers & plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glycoside Hydrolases - chemistry; hemicellulases; Models, Chemical; Monosaccharides - chemistry; Neosartorya; Neosartorya spinosa; Streptomyces - metabolism; Time Factors; vanillin; waste utilization; xylanases; Zea mays; ferulic acid esterase; Enzyme; Fiber; Corn; Esterases; Biomass; Cinnamic acid(4-hydroxy 3-methoxy); Extracellular; ferulic acid; corn bran; Residue; Hydrolases; Vanillin; corn fiber
• ISSN: 1097-0290; 0006-3592; 1097-0290
• DOI: 10.1002/bit.21056

An economic ferulic acid recovery from biomass via biological methods is of interest for a number of reasons. Ferulic acid is a precursor to vanillin synthesis. It is also a known antioxidant with potential food and medical applications. Despite its universal presence in all plant cell wall material, the complex structure of the plant cell wall makes ferulic acid recovery from biomass a challenging bioprocess. Previously, without pretreatment, very low (3-13%) recovery of ferulic acid from corn residues was achieved. We report here the discovery of a filamentous fungus Neosartorya spinosa NRRL185 capable of producing a full complement of enzymes to release ferulic acid and the development of an enzymatic process for a complete recovery of ferulic acid from corn bran and corn fibers. A partial characterization of the extracellular proteome of the microbe revealed the presence of at least seven cellulases and hemicellulases activities, including multiple iso-forms of xylanase and ferulic acid esterase. The recovered ferulic acid was bio-converted to vanillin, demonstrating its potential application in natural vanillin synthesis. The enzymatic ferulic acid recovery accompanied a significant release of reducing sugars (76-100%), suggesting much broader applications of the enzymes and enzyme mixtures from this organism.