Fungi-mediated transformation of 11a-acetoxyprogsterone / Farhana Nabilla Mat Sulaiman

The main objective of this research is to observe the biological transformation of steroidal molecule, 11 a-acetoxyprogesterone by using different fungal cultures. Trichothecium roseum and Mucor plumbeus were used in the transformation of 11 a­ acetoxyprogesterone and the production of metabolites were identified. Both small and large scale processes were conducted for both fungal strains to identify the potential metabolites of 11 a-acetoxyprogesterone. Small scale process was conducted to find out at which fermentation period both fungi produce the highest number of metabolites since different fungi may need different fermentation period to transform 1 la-acetoxyprogesterone the best. Four different fermentation periods were used in our research which was 3, 6, 9 and 12 days respectively. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was conducted for small scale process to identify the fermentation period with the highest number of metabolites. Then, fermentation period with the highest number of metabolites was proceeded with large scale process and analyzed by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. TLC and HPLC results for both Trichothecium roseum as well as Mucor plumbeus were compared in order to find out the production of metabolites by different fungi under the same condition (media condition, temperature). However, HPLC for the Mucor plumbeus was not performed due to time limitation .