Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Synthetic Engineering of Microbes for Production of Terpenoid Food Ingredients

Bingyin Peng, Wei Shan

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · 2025

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Summary

This narrative review examines the application of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to engineer microbial cell factories for producing terpenoid food ingredients. The authors synthesise current approaches to optimising heterologous pathways, including precursor availability, overcoming metabolic constraints, and integrating synthetic regulatory circuits, whilst emphasising the critical importance of genetic stability for commercial-scale production.

UK applicability

The biotechnological approaches described have potential application in the United Kingdom's growing fermentation and biomanufacturing sector, particularly for producing food-grade terpenoid flavours and additives locally. However, the review is technology-focused and does not address regulatory pathways, cost competitiveness, or integration with UK food industry infrastructure.

Key measures

Production efficiency of heterologous terpenoid pathways; optimisation of precursor supply; genetic and metabolic stability; scalability for commercial fermentation

Outcomes reported

The paper reviews synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches for optimising microbial production of terpenoids used as food ingredients. It addresses optimisation strategies across multiple dimensions including precursor supply, metabolic stability, and synthetic regulatory circuits for scaled commercial production.

Theme
General food systems / other
Subject
Food processing & bioavailability
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
System type
Food supply chain
DOI
10.1021/acs.jafc.5c01724
Catalogue ID
SNmok1w82j-jffao5

Topic tags

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