Advances and Prospects of Phenolic Acids Production, Biorefinery and Analysis

Abstract

Biotechnological production of phenolic acids is attracting increased interest due to their superior antioxidant activity, as well as other antimicrobial, dietary, and health benefits. As secondary metabolites, primarily found in plants and fungi, they are effective free radical scavengers due to the phenolic group available in their structure. Therefore, phenolic acids are widely utilised by pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, and chemical industries. A demand for phenolic acids is mostly satisfied by utilising chemically synthesised compounds, with only a low quantity obtained from natural sources. As an alternative to chemical synthesis, environmentally friendly bio-based technologies are necessary for development in large-scale production. One of the most promising sustainable technologies is the utilisation of microbial cell factories for biosynthesis of phenolic acids. In this paper, we perform a systematic comparison of the best known natural sources of phenolic acids. The advances and prospects in the development of microbial cell factories for biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds are discussed in more detail. A special consideration is given to the modern production methods and analytics of phenolic acids.

Accessing p‐Hydroxycinnamic Acids: Chemical Synthesis, Biomass Recovery, or Engineered Microbial Production?

“…Very recently, Valanciene et al. reviewed the biosynthesis of phenolic acids and their bioproduction, pointing out some limitations such as intrinsic toxicity and formation of by‐products in the case of heterologous production [138] . In addition, some drawbacks must be overcome such as poor solubility of p ‐HCAs in water, or high cost of growth media.…”

“…Very recently, Valanciene et al reviewed the biosynthesis of phenolic acids and their bioproduction, pointing out some limitations such as intrinsic toxicity and formation of by-products in the case of heterologous production. [138] In addition, some drawbacks must be overcome such as poor solubility of p-HCAs in water, or high cost of growth media. With regards to the toxicity of p-HCAs, the use of a solvent-tolerant strain (such as P. putida or an engineered strain) can be a solution to face the toxicity, and it has been already applied.…”

Diversity of Chemical Structures and Biosynthesis of Polyphenols in Nut-Bearing Species

“…An overview of the known polyphenolic biosynthetic framework is summarized in Figure 4 (Lushchak and Semchuk, 2012;Cheynier et al, 2013;Anantharaju et al, 2016;Valanciene et al, 2020). Even though the enzymatic genes regarding polyphenolic biosynthesis are elucidated and well characterized in model plants and crop species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays, and Camellia sinensis (Falcone Ferreyra et al, 2012;Jiang et al, 2013), numerous key genes are largely uncharacterized in seeds of nut plant species, probably due to the lower sequence similarity of genes between major model plants and model nut plant species.…”

Antioxidant Properties and Industrial Uses of Edible Polyporales

“…Additionally, the degradation of the side chain of cinnamic acid gives benzoic acid [ 49 ]. Then, benzoic acid gives rise to salicylic acid, gentisic acid, p -hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, and others such as p -anisic acid [ 55 ]. The addition of phenylalanine and tyrosine in cultivated fungi induced an increment of phenolic content [ 56 ].…”