| Summary: | Piperonal is a compound of key industrial importance due to its attractive olfactory and biological properties. It has been shown that among the fifty-six various fungal strains tested, the ability to cleave the toxic isosafrole into piperonal through alkene cleavage is mainly found in strains of the genus <i>Trametes</i>. Further studies involving strains isolated directly from different environments (decaying wood, fungal fruiting bodies, and healthy plant tissues) allowed the selection of two <i>Trametes</i> strains, <i>T. hirsuta</i> Th2_2 and <i>T. hirsuta</i> d28, as the most effective biocatalysts for the oxidation of isosafrole. The preparative scale of biotransformation with these strains provided 124 mg (conv. 82%, isolated yield 62%) and 101 mg (conv. 69%, isolated yield 50.5%) of piperonal, respectively. Due to the toxic impact of isosafrole on cells, preparative scale processes with <i>Trametes</i> strains have not yet been successfully performed and described in the literature.
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