As you may have seen the ROBOX project has been developing a method to produce Vanillin.
Our results have been sent for publication as a paper “Enzymatic synthesis of vanillin catalyzed by an eugenol oxidase” which will be available soon.
These results have also been highlighted in our detailed factsheets and the scaled up reaction to produce a multi-kilo batch has been presented.
Flavorings have been traditionally produced by extracting molecules from plants but 99% of the vanillin used today is produced in a petrochemical plants. Biotechnology is emerging as a solution to allow us to enjoy the flavors we love and overcome shortages that come about because of over demand, climatic disasters that cause crops to fail, diseases of plants and geopolitical changes.
Other examples of the emerging biotechnology producing flavorings by biotechnology are-
Evolva have developed a method to produce the natural sweetener Stevia through fermentation.
Isobionics are producing Valencene a product that for natural extraction requires a large amount of oranges which is often linked to irrigation and hence water depletion.
Phytowelt GreenTechnologies are producing a natural raspberry fragrance and are able to produce the aroma without any chiral by-products (R)-alpha-Ionone with high intensity and purity. 1 gram of raspberry fragrance replaces extraction from 111 tons raspberries and saves up to 20 hectares of agricultural production.