Vol. 9, Issue 4, Part J (2025)

The research investigates the microbial conversion of vanillin to create new products with improved activity for developing an antimicrobial agent using various fungal species. Twenty-two fungal cultures were assessed for their ability to transform vanillin, revealing that Paecilomyces variotii and Debaryomyces species can convert vanillin into two metabolites. The chemical structures of the metabolites were identified through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, with metabolite 1 identified as vanillic acid and metabolite 2 as vanillyl alcohol. The antimicrobial efficacy of the metabolites was tested against bacterial and fungal pathogens, showing significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus (inhibition zone of 22.67 mm) and antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata (zone of 20.00 mm). A combination of the two metabolites was administered systemically to infected Silkworm larvae, resulting in increased 15% pupal survival compared to untreated. The converted compounds displayed enhanced activity compared to the original compounds, indicating that vanillin derivatives could serve as potential broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents for managing pathogens.