Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms

Vanillin, an aromatic aldehyde, is one of the most popular flavors worldwide, extensively used in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. Despite its widespread use, less than 1% of the total vanillin production is natural, with the majority being synthesized chemically. Wh...

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Main Authors: Arnold William Tazon, Fatima Awwad, Fatma Meddeb-Mouelhi, Isabel Desgagné-Penix
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:BioChem
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6411/4/4/17
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author Arnold William Tazon
Fatima Awwad
Fatma Meddeb-Mouelhi
Isabel Desgagné-Penix
author_facet Arnold William Tazon
Fatima Awwad
Fatma Meddeb-Mouelhi
Isabel Desgagné-Penix
author_sort Arnold William Tazon
collection DOAJ
description Vanillin, an aromatic aldehyde, is one of the most popular flavors worldwide, extensively used in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. Despite its widespread use, less than 1% of the total vanillin production is natural, with the majority being synthesized chemically. While chemical synthesis can help to meet the growing demand for vanillin, a strong market trend has rapidly developed for products created from natural ingredients, including natural vanillin. Given the labor-intensive process of extracting vanillin from vanilla pods, there is a critical need for new metabolic engineering platforms to support the biotechnological production of nature-identical vanillin. This review highlights the significance of vanillin in various markets, its diverse applications, and the current state of bio-engineered production using both prokaryotic and eukaryotic biological systems. Although recent advancements have demonstrated successful vanillin production through biocatalytic approaches, our focus was to provide a current and innovative overview of vanillin bioengineering across various host systems with special consideration placed on microalgae, which are emerging as promising platforms for vanillin production through metabolic engineering. The use of these systems to support the biotechnological production of vanillin, while leveraging the photosynthetic capabilities of microalgae to capture CO<sub>2</sub> and convert it into biomass, can significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint.
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spelling doaj-art-0d558afb6e6a48488e5c31d628f0c43c2024-12-27T14:11:22ZengMDPI AGBioChem2673-64112024-11-014432334910.3390/biochem4040017Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering PlatformsArnold William Tazon0Fatima Awwad1Fatma Meddeb-Mouelhi2Isabel Desgagné-Penix3Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, CanadaVanillin, an aromatic aldehyde, is one of the most popular flavors worldwide, extensively used in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. Despite its widespread use, less than 1% of the total vanillin production is natural, with the majority being synthesized chemically. While chemical synthesis can help to meet the growing demand for vanillin, a strong market trend has rapidly developed for products created from natural ingredients, including natural vanillin. Given the labor-intensive process of extracting vanillin from vanilla pods, there is a critical need for new metabolic engineering platforms to support the biotechnological production of nature-identical vanillin. This review highlights the significance of vanillin in various markets, its diverse applications, and the current state of bio-engineered production using both prokaryotic and eukaryotic biological systems. Although recent advancements have demonstrated successful vanillin production through biocatalytic approaches, our focus was to provide a current and innovative overview of vanillin bioengineering across various host systems with special consideration placed on microalgae, which are emerging as promising platforms for vanillin production through metabolic engineering. The use of these systems to support the biotechnological production of vanillin, while leveraging the photosynthetic capabilities of microalgae to capture CO<sub>2</sub> and convert it into biomass, can significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6411/4/4/17microalgaevanillasynthetic biologybiotechnological productionsustainabilityphotosynthetic microorganisms
spellingShingle Arnold William Tazon
Fatima Awwad
Fatma Meddeb-Mouelhi
Isabel Desgagné-Penix
Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
BioChem
microalgae
vanilla
synthetic biology
biotechnological production
sustainability
photosynthetic microorganisms
title Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
title_full Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
title_fullStr Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
title_full_unstemmed Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
title_short Biotechnological Advances in Vanillin Production: From Natural Vanilla to Metabolic Engineering Platforms
title_sort biotechnological advances in vanillin production from natural vanilla to metabolic engineering platforms
topic microalgae
vanilla
synthetic biology
biotechnological production
sustainability
photosynthetic microorganisms
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6411/4/4/17
work_keys_str_mv AT arnoldwilliamtazon biotechnologicaladvancesinvanillinproductionfromnaturalvanillatometabolicengineeringplatforms
AT fatimaawwad biotechnologicaladvancesinvanillinproductionfromnaturalvanillatometabolicengineeringplatforms
AT fatmameddebmouelhi biotechnologicaladvancesinvanillinproductionfromnaturalvanillatometabolicengineeringplatforms
AT isabeldesgagnepenix biotechnologicaladvancesinvanillinproductionfromnaturalvanillatometabolicengineeringplatforms