Production of (E) 10-Hydroxy-8-octadecenoic Acid with Lyophilized Microbial Cells

Lyophilized non-proliferating microbial cells of Pseudomonas sp. 42A2 showed their ability to catalyze the bioconversion of oleic acid into (E)-10-hydroxy-8-octadecenoic acid (MHOD) and (E)- 7,10-dihydroxy-8-octadecenoic acid (DHOD). The reaction conditions were optimized in order to produce the maximum amount of MHOD. At 30°C and using phosphate buffer (0.1 M and pH=8), an initial substrate concentration of 10 mg mL^-1 and a cell concentration of 8 mg mL^-1, practically all the oleic acid in the medium was biotransformed within 42 h, with hardly any DHOD produced (1.4 mg mL^-1).