Genetic engineering creates natural vanillin from plant waste with commercial potential

06 Aug 2024 --- Researchers at Tokyo University of Science, Japan, have developed a new genetically engineered enzyme that can convert ferulic acid from plant waste into vanillin, a widely used flavoring and fragrance compound. Personal Care Insights speaks to the lead researcher to learn more about the sustainable solution and the commercial production of natural vanillin. 

Vanillin is the key compound in vanilla extract and is traditionally derived from seed pods. Low yields and the current climate, however, are limiting the availability of natural vanilla. According to the university, the classic flavor profile of natural vanilla is not replicated by synthetic alternatives, which drives up demand.

To address these challenges, Professor Toshiki Furuya and his team at the Tokyo University of Science developed the Ado enzyme.

The Ado enzyme enables a scalable solution for producing natural vanillin (Image credit: Professor Toshiki Furuya).According to the researchers, no enzymes derived from microorganisms or plants have demonstrated the capacity to convert ferulic acid to vanillin on an industrial scale until now. They underscore the “considerable potential” for commercial production of natural vanillin.

How does your new enzyme differ from traditional methods of vanillin production in terms of efficiency and sustainability?
Furuya: Vanillin is obtained from plants, but the amount of vanillin extracted from plant sources is limited. Thus, most vanillin production currently depends on chemical synthesis from petrochemicals. These chemical methods, however, do not entirely avoid the use of toxic reagents and the generation of harmful by-products. 

In our method, vanillin is produced from natural ferulic acid in agricultural wastes, including wheat and rice bran, using our new enzyme without using petrochemicals. In this process, vanillin can be produced simply by mixing the enzyme and ferulic acid at room temperature. Our approach using the enzyme and agricultural wastes offers a sustainable and cost-effective method for vanillin production.

Vanillin can be produced from agricultural waste (Image credit: Professor Toshiki Furuya).Plants are considered sustainable raw materials because they are renewable and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. On the other hand, petroleum is difficult to regenerate and increases carbon dioxide when used. Our method is considered sustainable because plants are the raw material for vanillin, and it also contributes to the effective use of unused agricultural waste.

Can you elaborate on the genetic engineering techniques used to modify the enzyme, which converts ferulic acid into vanillin?
Furuya: The Ado enzyme has a structure consisting of approximately 600 amino acids of 20 different kinds. It is originally an enzyme that converts a compound called isoeugenol but is unable to convert ferulic acid. We have succeeded in giving it the activity to convert ferulic acid to vanillin by genetically altering the amino acid sequence of Ado.

What are the potential applications of your enzyme in the personal care industry?
Furuya: Our method allows us to produce vanillin enzymatically from plant-derived raw materials without the use of petrochemicals and, therefore, it has the potential to provide natural vanillin for cosmetics.

We are attempting to increase the enzyme’s activity further to achieve industrial-level production of vanillin.

Industrial application
The study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology details how the Ado enzyme demonstrates high catalytic efficiency, producing vanillin on a gram scale per liter of reaction solution. 

The enzyme is combined with ferulic acid and molecular oxygen in the reaction, which is said to be simple to perform and safe for the environment.

The enzyme exhibits activity toward other compounds found in agricultural waste, including sinapic acid and p-coumaric acid, according to research findings.

By Venya Patel