Researchers report a microbial method for producing an artificial grape flavor. Methyl anthranilate (MANT) is a common grape flavoring and odorant compound currently produced through a petroleum-based process that uses large volumes of toxic acid catalysts. Sang Yup Lee and colleagues demonstrated production of MANT, a naturally occurring compound, via engineered bacteria. The authors engineered strains of Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum to produce MANT through a plant-based engineered metabolic pathway. The authors tuned the bacterial metabolic pathway by optimizing the levels of AAMT1, the key enzyme in the process. To maximize production of MANT, the authors tested six strategies, including increasing the supply of a precursor compound and enhancing the availability of a co-substrate. The most productive strategy proved to be a two-phase extractive culture, in which MANT was extracted into a solvent. This strategy produced MANT on the scale of 4.47 to 5.74 grams per liter, a significant amount, considering that engineered microbes produce most natural products at a scale of milligrams or micrograms per liter. According to the authors, the results suggest that MANT and other related molecules produced through industrial processes can be produced at scale by engineered microbes in a manner that would allow them to be marketed as natural, instead of artificial, flavors.
Article #19-03875: "Microbial production of methyl anthranilate, a grape flavor compound," by Zi Wei Luo, Jae Sung Cho, and Sang Yup Lee.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sang Yup Lee, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA; tel: +82-42-350-3930; e-mail: leesy@kaist.ac.kr
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences