Microbial transformation of podocarpic acid and evaluation of transformation products for antioxidant activity.

Podocarpic acid was metabolized by Mucor ramannianus ATCC 9628, and Beauveria bassiana ATCC 7159 to afford two new metabolites, 2 alpha-hydroxy podocarpic acid and 11-hydroxy podocarpic acid, along with the known metabolite 13-hydroxy podocarbic acid. The identity of these metabolites was verified using different spectral methods. The antioxidant activity of the metabolites was tested, and comparable results to those observed for ascorbic acid were obtained.