Research advances in microbial synthesis of β-carotene

  • CHEN Maosen ,
  • WANG Yukun ,
  • ZHONG Jie ,
  • QI Feng
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  • 1(National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Industrial Microbial Fermentation Technology, College of Life Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China)
    2(Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Cell Stress Response and Metabolic Regulation, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China)

Received date: 2024-03-08

  Revised date: 2024-05-08

  Online published: 2025-02-14

Abstract

β-carotene is a common carotenoid with antioxidant, anticancer and cardiovascular disease prevention properties and is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.β-carotene is mainly extracted from plants, algae and other organisms, and the extraction method has the disadvantages of serious environmental pollution and high production cost.With the advancement of synthetic biology technology and the innovation of metabolic engineering strategies, significant progress has been achieved in constructing cell factories for β-carotene production using microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Yarrowia lipolytica.The biosynthesis method offers advantages including low environmental impact, cost-effectiveness, and high efficiency, with promising prospects for further development.In this review, the physicochemical properties, biological value and biosynthesis pathway of β-carotene are investigated, the relevant studies on microbial synthesis of β-carotene are summarized, and the common metabolic engineering strategies used in increasing the yield of β-carotene are also concluded.Finally, in order to provide reference for obtaining higher yield of β-carotene, the challenges and future research directions of β-carotene biosynthesis are discussed.

Cite this article

CHEN Maosen , WANG Yukun , ZHONG Jie , QI Feng . Research advances in microbial synthesis of β-carotene[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2025 , 51(2) : 356 -364 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.039149

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