Microbial conversion of curcumin into colorless hydroderivatives by the endophytic fungus Diaporthe sp. associated with Curcuma longa

Abstract

We investigated the microbial conversion of curcumin (1) using endophytic fungi associated with the rhizome of Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae). We found that Diaporthe sp., an endophytic filamentous fungus, converts curcumin (1) into four colorless derivatives, namely (3R,5R)-tetrahydrocurcumin (2), a novel (3R,5S)-hexahydrocurcumin (3) named neohexahydrocurcumin, (3S,5S)- octahydrocurcumin (4) and meso-octahydrocurcumin (5). © 2011 Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.