Perspectives for the biotechnological production of ethyl acetate by yeasts

Ethyl acetate is an environmentally friendly solvent with many industrial applications. The production of ethyl acetate currently proceeds by energy-intensive petrochemical processes which are based on natural gas and crude oil without exception. Microbial synthesis of ethyl acetate could become an interesting alternative. The formation of esters as aroma compounds in food has been repeatedly reviewed, but a survey which deals with microbial synthesis of ethyl acetate as a bulk product is missing. The ability of yeasts for producing larger amounts of this ester is known for a long time. In the past, this potential was mainly of scientific interest, but in the future, it could be applied to large-scale ester production from renewable raw materials. Pichia anomala, Candida utilis, and Kluyveromyces marxianus are yeasts which convert sugar into ethyl acetate with a high yield where the latter is the most promising one. Special attention was paid to the mechanism of ester synthesis including regulatory aspects and to the maximum and expectable yield. Synthesis of much ethyl acetate requires oxygen which is usually supplied by aeration. Ethyl acetate is highly volatile so that aeration results in its phase transfer and stripping. This stripping process cannot be avoided but requires adequate handling during experimentation and offers a chance for a cost-efficient process-integrated recovery of the synthesized ester.