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Efficient production of l-menthyl α-glucopyranoside from l-menthol via whole-cell biotransformation using recombinant Escherichia coli

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Abstract

l-Menthyl α-D-glucopyranoside (α-MenG) is a glycoside derivative of l-menthol with improved water-solubility and new flavor property as a food additive. α-MenG can be synthesized through biotransformation, but its scale-up production was rarely reported. In this study, the properties of an α-glucosidase from Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris 8004 (Agl-2) in catalyzing the glucosylation of menthol was investigated. Agl-2 can almost completely glycosylate l-menthol (> 99%) when using 1.2 M maltose as glycosyl donor. Accumulated glucose resulted from maltose hydrolysis and transglycosylation caused the inhibition of the glucosylation rate (40% reduction of the glucosylation rate in the presence of 1.2 M glucose) which can be avoided through whole-cell catalysis with recombinant E. coli. Interestingly, in spite of the poor solubility of menthol, the productivity of α-MenG reached 24.7 g/(L·h) in a 2 L catalyzing system, indicating industrialization of the reported approach.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 31601445, No. 31601390 and No. 21572206).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Fermentation Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 18 Chaowang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Luyi Chen, Yuanlu Zhou, Changxin Lu, Zhi Ma, Hanchi Chen, Linjiang Zhu, Yuele Lu & Xiaolong Chen

  2. College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Luyi Chen, Yuanlu Zhou, Changxin Lu, Zhi Ma, Hanchi Chen, Linjiang Zhu, Yuele Lu & Xiaolong Chen

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  1. Luyi Chen
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  2. Yuanlu Zhou
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  3. Changxin Lu
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  4. Zhi Ma
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  5. Hanchi Chen
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  6. Linjiang Zhu
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  7. Yuele Lu
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  8. Xiaolong Chen
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Correspondence to Yuele Lu or Xiaolong Chen.

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Chen, L., Zhou, Y., Lu, C. et al. Efficient production of l-menthyl α-glucopyranoside from l-menthol via whole-cell biotransformation using recombinant Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Lett 43, 1757–1764 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-021-03100-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-021-03100-6

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