Enhanced benzaldehyde formation by a monokaryotic strain of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus using a selective solid adsorbent in the culture medium

A monokaryotic strain of the white-rot fungus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus was shown to produce, in a 2-L bioreactor culture, 100 mg·L-1 benzaldehyde (bitter almond aroma) from L-phenylalanine with a productivity of 33 mg·L-1·day-1. The addition of HP20 resin, a styrene divinylbenzene copolymer highly selective for benzaldehyde, enabled an eightfold increase in the production of benzaldehyde and a twofold increase in productivity. In the presence of HP20 resin, the production of 790 mg·L-1 benzaldehyde was concomitant with the synthesis of cinnamic acid derivatives of high organoleptic notes such as cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl alcohol, and methyl cinnamate.Key words : benzaldehyde, L-phenylalanine, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, adsorbents.