Screening of selected microbes as biocatalysts for biotransformation of Xanthorrhizol from curcuma Xanthorrhiza

Curcumin is a diarylheptanoid found in Curcuma longa while xanthorrizol is a bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid from Curcuma xanthorriza possess numerous biological activities that are beneficial to human health due to their remarkable structure. However, they are available in low concentration with poor water solubility, resulted in low bioavailability thus hindering clinical applications in exploring for novel drug lead. The activities of these compounds can be improved through biotransformation, one of the green methods for structural modifications utilizing ubiquitous biocatalyst. Extracted curcumin from C. longa and xanthorrizol from C. xanthorriza were purified and characterized through GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy, followed by biotransformation screening performed on the aforementioned compounds through Streptomyces sp. previously isolated from Kuantan mangrove and Aspergillus Niger as biocatalysts. The promising compound were identified via Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) before preparative procedure for isolation and characterization purposes.