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Content archived on 2024-04-19

NEW STRATEGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED PROCESSES FOR THE GENERATION OF COMPOUNDS WITH FLAVOURING AND/OR OTHER FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES FROM NATURAL MATERIAL

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An investigation was made of pathways that may lead to the formation of compounds with interesting olfactory properties. These high value products are generally synthesized from common compounds or derived from natural products, as required by current food and industrial regulations. The use of enzymes in synthesis pathways is an established practice. Here, such methods have been compared with common chemical reactions carried out under mild conditions. An optimized enzymic process, leading the intermediates 6-deoxy-sorbo/fructose has been developed for furaneol synthesis. The results were used to establish the process engineering. Alternative routes to furaneol were compared with the enzymic route. Product recovery via selective extraction and super critical carbon dioxide extraction was carried out and the reaction mixtures analysed. A bioprocess developed for generating 2(E)-hexenal, a flavour compound with a fresh, green smell, also involved several enzymic reactions. The recovery of 2(E)-hexenal by solid phase extraction and gas stripping was investigated in comparison with classical solvent extraction. The reaction of mono and diesters of hydrophilic diols with fatty acids in a microemulsion system using lipase was performed. Reaction parameters were investigated. Mono-and diesters were selectively synthesized at high reaction rates. In addition the production of monoclonal antibodies with aldolase activity were studied. The application of lipase for the thioesterification of short chain flavour thioesters has also been investigated. The overall process was compared with the efficiency of transthioesterification and the thioesterification. Finally, a preliminary study of a possible purification process was carried out. A number of methods were screened for the synthesis of maltol, furaneol and 2-acetoxytetrahydrofurane. Focusing on process economy, special consideration and emphasis was given to the possibility of using cheap natural starting material. The reaction steps were studied and elaborated in detail. Furaneol and 2-acetoxytetrahydrofurane were obtained in high yields.
Biotechnical processes for the synthesis of aroma compounds (eg Furaneol, hexanal, fatty acid-thioester) have been developed. Using starting materials from natural sources preferentially, the gained products can be utilized, not only for nutrient products, but also for value added fine chemicals.

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