Process for the preparation of vanillin

DETAILED DESCRIPTION What is claimed is: 1.
A process for the preparation of vanillin which comprises oxidizing in a culture broth, 0.
2 to 100 g/1 of culture broth of eugenol, isoeugenol or a mixture of eugenol and isoeugenol microbially, in the presence of an effective amount of a microorganism selected from the genera Serratia, Klebsiella or Enterobacter, to form vanillin and isolating the vanillin which has formed from the culture broth.
2.
The process of claim 1, wherein a strain of Serratia ficaria, Serratia fonticola, Serratia liquefaciens, Serratia marcescens, Serratia marinorubra, Serratia odorifera, Serratia plymuthica, Serratia rubidaea, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter agglomerans, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella edwardsii is used as the microorganism of the genera Serratia, Klebsiella or Enterobacter.
3.
The process of claim 1, wherein an adsorbent is added to the culture broth.
4.
The process of claim 3, wherein the adsorbent is active charcoal or an adsorber resin.
5.
The process of claim 1, wherein the process is carried out at a temperature within the range from 10 to 45.
degree.
C.




Description:
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of natural vanillin by fermentative oxidation of eugenol and/or isoeugenol.
Vanillin is an important flavoring which is much used in the foodstuff and luxury food industry.
Hitherto it is mainly prepared from the lignin of sulfite waste liquors, and occasionally by chemical means by oxidation of eugenol or isoeugenol.
However, the vanillin obtained in this way has the disadvantage that it is not a natural substance within the meaning of foodstuffs legislation and therefore may not be called a natural flavoring either.
The natural flavoring vanillin is to date obtainable only by extraction from vanilla pods; however, the natural vanillin obtained in this way is much too costly for use on an industrial scale.
It is disclosed in Agric.
Biol.
Chem.
41, 925-929 (1977) and 74, 2639-2640 (1983) that eugenol provides, on microbial breakdown by bacteria of the genus Corynebacterium sp