Enhanced bioconversion of vanillic acid into vanillin by the use of 'natural' cellobiose

Cellulose-rich residue was obtained by a pectinase treatment of sugar beet pulp and was enzymatically degraded to produce cellobiose. From sugar beet pulp, the hydrolysis yielded 5.3% of cellobiose and 3.8% of glucose. The cellobiose-rich fraction was added in a culture medium of the filamentous fungus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus to test it as an activator of vanillin production. Adding the sugar beet-derived cellobiose-rich fraction to a 3-day-old culture yielded a 3.3-fold increase in vanillin production when compared to a culture devoid of cellobiose, while commercial cellobiose yielded a 3.1-fold increase. (C) 1999 Society of Chemical Industry.