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Application of Valencene and Prospects for its Production in Engineered Microorganisms

Summary

This research reviews methods for producing valencene, a valuable citrus-scented compound, using engineered microorganisms instead of extracting it from citrus fruits. This work impacts everyday life in several ways: • Enables more sustainable and efficient production of natural flavoring used in beverages, foods and fragrances • Helps reduce reliance on citrus crops for valencene production • Provides potential new ways to create natural insect repellents • Could lead to more affordable and accessible citrus flavoring products • Demonstrates environmentally-friendly manufacturing methods for common consumer products

Background

Valencene is a sesquiterpene with sweet and fresh citrus odor widely used in the food, beverage, flavor and fragrance industries. It is traditionally obtained from citrus fruits which contain low concentrations of this compound. Due to high market demand, researchers have worked to develop novel microbial cell factories for more efficient and sustainable production methods.

Objective

This review aims to discuss the biosynthesis of valencene in plants, summarize current knowledge of the key enzyme valencene synthase, highlight heterologous production in different hosts including bacteria, fungi, microalgae and plants, and describe engineering strategies used to improve valencene production. The review also proposes potential engineering directions to further increase microbial valencene production.

Results

The review found that various microbial hosts have been successfully engineered to produce valencene, with yields ranging from 1.5 mg/L to 16.6 g/L. Key strategies included optimizing the mevalonate (MVA) pathway, engineering valencene synthase, compartmentalization engineering, and fermentation optimization. The highest production (16.6 g/L) was achieved in engineered S. cerevisiae through coupling cell growth with biochemical pathway induction.

Conclusion

While significant progress has been made in engineering microorganisms for valencene production, yields still remain lower compared to other sesquiterpenes. Future improvements should focus on balancing production with cellular growth, optimizing valencene synthase activity, utilizing multi-omics data and artificial intelligence, and developing better genetic tools for strain engineering.
  • Published in:Frontiers in Microbiology,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1444099
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