Production of flavor esters catalyzed by CALB-displaying Pichia pastoris whole-cells in a batch reactor

Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) has been employed as an efficient catalyst in the preparation of many flavor esters. A CALB-displaying yeast whole-cell biocatalyst could be an attractive alternative to commercial immobilized CALB because of its low-cost preparation and high enzymatic activity. We investigated the potential application of CALB-displaying Pichia pastoris cells for the production of flavor esters. The optimal conditions for flavor esters synthesis by this biocatalyst were determined in 50-ml shake flasks. Under optimized conditions, the synthesis of 12 kinds flavor esters were scaled up in a 5-l batch stirred reactor. Among these, the mole conversions of 10 exceeded 95% after reactions for 4 h. In addition, this biocatalyst showed good tolerance for high substrates concentration and excellent operational stability. Repeated use of the cells in 10 batches resulted in an activity loss of less than 10%. Thus, CALB-displaying P. pastoris whole cells are robust biocatalysts with potential commercial application in the large-scale production of flavor esters in non-aqueous media.

► CALB-displaying P. pastoris exhibited high synthetic activity as a whole-cell biocatalysts.
► It showed good tolerance for temperature and high substrate concentrations.
► 12 kinds of flavor esters were synthesized very efficiently in a 5-l batch reactor.
► This biocatalyst is promising for potential use for the commercial production.