Biotransformation of estragole by the plant cultured cells of Caragana chamlagu

Abstract

Estragole (EG) is biosynthesized in herbs including anise, basil, bay, tarragon, fennel and marjoram, and is thought to be a useful biomass for the food and health industries. Moreover, the metabolites from estragole are useful intermediates in organic synthetic chemistry. However, estragole has been transformed only by chemical methods, and no biocatalysts have been reported. In this paper, we report the biotransformation of estragole using the plant cells of Caragana chamlagu gave 4-methoxycinnamaldehyde (MCAL), 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol (MCA) and 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (MBAL). In addition, we propose a reaction mechanism in the biotransformation of estragole using Caragana chamlagu. Since estragole generates malignant liver tumors in the rat, it is necessary to reduce exposure. The present study reveals the transformation of harmful estragole. Furthermore, we succeeded in biotransforming estragole as biomass using plant cells into useful compounds.

Isomerization of Allylbenzenes

“…This work stems from other studies, which have demonstrated that certain soil bacteria are able to utilize eugenol 5 and isoeugenol 18 as food sources. − The biotransformations processes illustrated in Scheme were proposed to occur via a radical pathway. It is thus possible to envisage that future processes will utilize biomass engineered to produce valuable phenylpropenes; these will include bioprocesses − in which large amounts of allylpropenoid compounds could be isomerized in vivo into their isomerized derivatives (for example, the large-scale conversion of estragole 7 into anethole 20 ).…”