Natural Fruit Flavours by Biocatalysis

苹果、芒果、桃子、杏、椰子、牛奶、奶酪和黄油以及其他美味水果和食物的奶油味、甜味、乳白色和令人满意的味道都来自于被称为内酯的少量强烈风味的天然产物。因为它们在水果和其他作物中的含量非常少，所以从自然界中分离出来的材料非常昂贵。然而，香料、食品和化妆品行业的需求每年达到数万吨。目前使用的几乎所有材料都是使用污染技术从化石燃料来源化学合成的。一些原料是从在这个过程中被杀死的树皮中收获的。随着对这些产品需求的增加，显然需要对环境友好并使用可持续原料的合成工艺。这个后续基金项目的目的是通过成熟的发酵技术，利用酶催化提供一锅工艺。

The creamy, sweet, milky and desirable flavours and taste notes of apple, mango, peach, apricot, coconut, milk, cheese and butter, amongst other delicious fruits and foods are from the presence of tiny amounts of intensely flavoured natural products called lactones. Because they are found in such small quantities in fruits and other crops the material isolated from nature are very expensive. However, the demand in the flavour, food and cosmetics industry runs into tens of thousands of tonnes per annum. Almost all materials in current use are chemically synthesised from fossil fuel sources using polluting technology. Some feedstocks are harvested from the bark of trees which are killed in the process. As demand for these products increase there is a clear need for synthesis processes that are environmentally friendly and use sustainable feedstocks. The aim of this Follow-on-Fund project is to provide a one-pot process using enzyme catalysis by well-established fermentation technology.