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Prospects and progress on crocin biosynthetic pathway and metabolic engineering
Taoli Liu1,2, Suize Yu1,2, Zhichao Xu3
1State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
|November 19, 2020
Summary
Crocins, valuable pigments from saffron and gardenia, offer health benefits but are hard to source. Synthetic metabolic engineering offers a promising solution for large-scale crocin production.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Metabolic Engineering
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Crocins are apocarotenoid pigments from *Crocus sativus* and *Gardenia jasminoides*.
- They possess significant pharmacological activities, including anticancer and neuroprotective effects.
- Traditional crocin sources are insufficient for growing demand.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the crocin biosynthetic pathway and its subcellular route.
- To discuss key enzymes involved in crocin synthesis.
- To explore synthetic metabolic engineering strategies for crocin production.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on crocin biosynthesis.
- Analysis of the crocin metabolic pathway and enzyme functions.
- Discussion of metabolic engineering approaches and challenges.
Main Results:
- Detailed elucidation of the crocin biosynthetic pathway.
- Identification of critical enzymes in crocin production.
- Assessment of synthetic biology strategies for crocin yield improvement.
Conclusions:
- Synthetic metabolic engineering holds potential for sustainable, large-scale crocin production.
- Further research is needed to overcome challenges in crocin biosynthesis engineering.
- This review provides a foundation for future studies in crocin synthetic biology.
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