Bioconversion of Mandelonitrile to Mandelic Acid using Plant extracts from Barley, Cabbage and Radish

Abstract

Bioconversion of mandelonitrile to R-mandelic acid, an α-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid, using crude plant extracts reported here. Chemical process of conversion of mandelonitrile yields both R- and S-enantiomers of mandelic acid. The objective was to convert it to only R- enantiomers. Nitrilases are capable of synthesizing only R-enantiomers. Some plants have been reported to be rich source of nitrilases. Based on the screening results of plants containing nitrilases; cabbage, radish and barley extracts were used for this purpose. The conversion rate was maximum (15 g) with barley leaf extract at 28 ºC; cabbage and radish converted 3.23 and 2.45 g, respectively at 32 ºC. The preliminary results indicated plants can be used for conversion of mandelonitrile to mandelic acid; though lot of optimization and various parameters need to be studied further.