Nine yeast strains isolated from Latin American biodiversity were screened for ferulic acid (FA) consumption and conversion into aroma compounds such as vanillin, vanillic acid (VA), and 4-vinylguaiacol (VG). Selected strains (Rhodotorula mucilaginosa UFMG-CM-Y3647, UFMG-CM-Y2190, UFMG-CM-Y665) were evaluated in flask experiments to investigate the influence of the pH media on bioconversion and a two-step process was conducted to maximize the metabolites production. The effect of pH was found to be significantly important for FA bioconversion, as acidic conditions (pH < 6.0) improved VA accumulation, with highest production of 1.14 ± 0.02 and 1.25 ± 0.03 g/L shown by UFMG-CM-Y3647 and UFMG-CM-Y2190, respectively. The two-step process favored 4-VG production for most strains, being UFMG-CM-Y2190 the best producer, its cultures reaching 1.63 ± 0.09 g/L after 55 hr, showing a productivity of 29.59 ± 1.55 mg/(LÁhr), as glucose affected the metabolites pool and redirected yeast metabolism. R mucilaginosa UFMG-CM-Y3647 was selected for scaled-up cultivations in a 2-L bioreactor, where pH-controlled pH 5.5 and aeration of 2.5 vvm was found to be the best condition to improve VA productivity, attaining final concentrations of 1.20 ± 0.02 g/L −1 (78% molar yield) and a productivity of 40.82 ± 0.57 mg/(LÁhr).

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