Aromas flow: eco-friendly, continuous, and scalable preparation of flavour esters

Flow-based biocatalysis offers advantages to perform multiphase reactions, including liquid-liquid reactions, due to intensified mass transfer, compartmentalization and high local concentration of the catalyst. Enzymatic immobilization leads to stable biocatalysts, with the possibility to incorporate them in continuous reactors. The combination between the two technologies allows for intensified process with high substrate concentration and high product recovery. The present paper is an excellent example of automated continuous biocatalytic process where a transferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsAcT) was immobilized onto agarose beads and exploited for the preparation of a variety of flavour-esters, utilizing exclusively natural substrates, with excellent yields in 5-min reaction times. The corresponding products can be labelled and commercialized as natural too, thus increasing their market value.