Patent ID: 7981646

Claim:
A method of preparing vanillin which comprises: (i) carrying out a biotransformation process which comprises the biotransformation of ferulic acid in the presence of a microorganism consisting of Amycolatopsis sp. IMI 390106 , to generate a biotransformation medium which contains vanillin produced by said biotransformation process and substantially free from odoriferous by-products; (ii) precipitating a crude vanillin product from a solution which is or is derived from said biotransformation medium; and (iii) purifying said vanillin product by a process comprising contacting the vanillin product with a purification fluid selected from (a) a liquefied gas whose pressure exceeds its critical pressure and whose temperature is below its critical temperature; (b) a supercritical fluid; (c) a gas; to provide solid vanillin.