Abstract: A new way to obtain shikimic acid (SA) through microbial transformation of the bacteria Salmonella B31 in aqueous extracting solution of aniseed residue and its affecting factors were studied. HPLC analysis showed that S. B31 did not produce SA itself. Using the S. B31 to transform the extracting solution of aniseed residue, the concentration of SA increased from 8.04 g/L to 8.80 g/L and reached to the highest content between 20 h and 24 h, and then content of SA was decreased during the prolonged culture. The best transformation effect was obtained for the solution of aniseed residue:water extracts for 1:40(g:mL) with the bacteria S. B31 culture for 24 h and the highest SA content was 0.213 g/L, which increased 2.56 times.

Key words: Illicium verum Hook.f., shikimic acid (SA), Salmonella B31, microbial transformation