Biotransformation of longifolene by Penicillium europium

A fungal species was screened from a forest soil by enrichment agar plating method with longifolene as only carbon source. It was identified as Penicillium europium. The isolated fungus transformed the longifolene into various metabolites, of which 12 were isolated in pure form. The characterisation of these transformed compounds was carried out by physicochemical methods involving spectral studies. Attempts were made to find out the pathways of the transformation of longifolene with the help of oxygen uptakes studies, tetranitromethane (TNM) tests and structures of acid and neutral metabolites. The biological transformation of longifolene was found to proceed simultaneously by 4 different schemes of pathways. As the longifolene metabolites are playing a big role in perfumery, P. europium can be utilised in the production of necessary raw materials for perfumes.