Open Access

REVIEW

Plant-Derived Enzymes Producing Chiral Aroma Compounds and Potential Application

Fang Dong¹, Qian Fan², Xinguo Su^3,*, Lanting Zeng^4,*
1 Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational College, Guangzhou, 510520, China
2 National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, College of Life Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, 341000, China
3 Tropical Agriculture and Forestry Department, Guangdong AIB Polytechnic College, Guangzhou, 510650, China
4 Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China
* Corresponding Authors: Xinguo Su. Email: ; Lanting Zeng. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Biotechnology of Plant Secondary Metabolites)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(2), 383-398. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.023185

Received 14 April 2022; Accepted 30 May 2022; Issue published 12 October 2022

Abstract

Aroma (volatile) compounds play important ecological functions in plants, and also contribute to the quality of plant-derived foods. Moreover, chiral aroma compounds affect their functions in plants and lead to different flavor quality properties. Formations of chiral aroma compounds are due to the presence of enzymes producing these compounds in plants, which are generally involved in the final biosynthetic step of the aroma compounds. Here, we review recent progress in research on the plant-derived enzymes producing chiral aroma compounds, and their changes in response to environmental factors. The chiral aroma enzymes that have been reported produce (R)-linalool, (S)-linalool, (R)-limonene, and (S)-limonene, etc., and these enzymes are found in various plant species. We also discuss the origins of enantioselectivity in the plant-derived enzymes producing chiral aroma compounds and summarize the potential use of plants containing enzymes producing chiral aroma compounds for producing chiral flavors/fragrances.

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Keywords

Aroma; chiral; enantioselectivity; enzyme; plant volatile; stereochemistry

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