Microbial production of scent and flavor compounds

Scents and flavors like those of fresh oranges are no longer limited to just the natural product. Fruit, flower, and essential oil scents have found place in cosmetics, soaps, candles, and food amongst many common household products. With their increasing global demand and difficulty in extractation from the natural source, alternative methods of their production are being sought. One sustainable method is to employ microorganisms for the production of these high value compounds. With the tools of metabolic engineering, microorganisms can be modified to produce compounds such as esters, terpenoids, aldehydes, and methyl ketones. Approaches and challenges for the production of these compounds from microbial hosts are discussed in this review.