Investigation of β-phenylethanol production by a wild-type Pichia kudriavzevii isolated from jiuqu of rice-flavor baijiu

• Published in: Biotechnology and bioprocess engineering Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 588 - 600
• Main Authors: Qu, Chunyun, Tian, Maoxiu, Cai, Ziyi, Xu, Yiyin, Zeng, Yu, Bai, Weidong, Liu, Gongliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering 01.06.2025; Springer Nature B.V; 한국생물공학회
• Subjects: Biosynthesis; Biotechnology; Carbon sources; Charcoal; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cosmetics; Ethanol; Fermentation; Flavors; Food; Food industry; Glucose; Industrial and Production Engineering; Inoculation; Microorganisms; Phenylalanine; Pichia kudriavzevii; Research Paper; Rice; Yeast; 생물공학; Ehrlich pathway; phenylethanol; Response surface methodology; Nitrogen catabolite repression
• ISSN: 1226-8372; 1976-3816
• DOI: 10.1007/s12257-025-00190-1

Β -phenylethanol, also known as 2-phenylethanol (2-PE), is a valuable higher alcohol highly sought after by the perfumery, cosmetics, and food industries. Microbial production of 2-PE is a promising alternative that heavily depends on the types of strains. Pichia kudriavzevii YJQ-1, isolated from jiuqu of Guangdong rice-flavor baijiu, exhibits robustness under 4 g/L 2-PE or 8% (v/v) ethanol stress and has the ability to produce 2-PE under different carbon sources via the Ehrlich pathway. The production condition of Pichia kudriavzevii YJQ-1 for 2-PE was optimized, and results indicated that the optimal condition for 2-PE production is with 90 g/L glucose, 1 g/L yeast extract, 1% (w/v) P2 biochar, 42 g/L Triton X-100 and 12 g/L L-phenylalanine (L-phe), at a loading volume of 50 mL/250 mL, a rotation speed of 200 rpm, a temperature of 30 °C, and with 2% inoculation. Finally, 4.81 g/L 2-PE with a yield of 0.72 g/g L-phe was achieved through batch fermentation, suggesting that Pichia kudriavzevii YJQ-1 is a potential candidate producer of 2-PE.