Amycolatopsis sp. strain and methods of using the same for vanillin production

A method for producing vanillin comprising:

• a. adding Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells isolated from a standard cell culture to a substrate solution comprising about 3-40 g/L ferulic acid to form a biotransformation solution, whereby the ferulic acid is converted to vanillin using said Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells as a biocatalyst;
• b. after said conversion of ferulic acid to vanillin, extracting the vanillin from the biotransformation solution to produce a concentrated extract containing 200-230 g/L of vanillin;
• and
• c. crystallizing vanillin from the concentrated extract, thereby producing purified vanillin using said Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells.

A method for producing vanillin comprising:

• a. adding Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells to a substrate solution comprising about 3-40 g/L ferulic acid to form a first biotransformation solution, whereby the ferulic acid is converted to vanillin using said Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells as a biocatalyst;
• b. after said conversion reaction of ferulic acid to vanillin, recycling said Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells from the first biotransformation solution;
• and
• c. adding the recycled Amycolatopsis sp. zhp06 cells into a second biotransformation solution comprising ferulic acid for another vanillin production.