Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (11): 35-46.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2025-0656

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Advances in the Biosynthesis of Functional Food Ingredient Hydroxytyrosol

WANG Xin(), SUN Tao, SUN Mei-li, WANG Kai-feng, JI Xiao-jun()   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816
  • Received:2025-06-23 Online:2025-11-26 Published:2025-12-09
  • Contact: JI Xiao-jun E-mail:xinwang@njtech.edu.cn;xiaojunji@njtech.edu.cn

Abstract:

Hydroxytyrosol (HT), also known as 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol, is a representative natural phenolic compound that is abundantly found in olives and other Mediterranean plants. It presents high biological activity and has been shown to possess a broad spectrum of physiological functions, including potent antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging effects. Due to these properties, hydroxytyrosol holds great promise for applications in food preservation and packaging, natural flavoring agents, nutraceuticals, and the development of functional foods, with significant commercial and industrial potential. Currently, hydroxytyrosol is primarily obtained through plant extraction or chemical synthesis. However, plant extraction is limited by resource availability and typically lowyield, while chemical synthesis involves harsh reaction conditions, complicated purification processes, and environmental concerns, making it insufficient to meet the growing demand for industrial-scale production. In recent years, microbial biosynthesis based on synthetic biology approaches has emerged as a promising and sustainable alternative. This strategy enables environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and highly selective and high-purity production of hydroxytyrosol through engineered microbial cell factories. This review provides an overview of the biosynthetic pathways of hydroxytyrosol and the synthetic biology strategies for its enhancement, with a focus on the progress in utilizing various microbial chassis cells for de novo biosynthesis of hydroxytyrosol. Finally, the review discusses future perspectives on optimizing the biosynthetic pathways of hydroxytyrosol through synthetic biology, with the aim of laying a foundation for its large-scale production in synthetic biology-based manufacturing.

Key words: food synthetic biology, functional food ingredient, tyrosine derivatives, hydroxytyrosol, Ehrlich pathway