Yarrowia lipolytica: the novel and promising 2-phenylethanol producer

This is the first report on the ability of Yarrowia lipolytica strains to produce 2-phenylethanol (2-PE), which has not been identified for this species to date. 2-PE is a valuable aroma compound of rose-like odor. Its isolation from the other than microbial source—rose petals, is limited by the substrate availability. Thus, this chemical compound constitutes an attractive product for biotechnological conversions. To date, the ability to produce 2-PE has been described for such genera as Saccharomyces sp., Kluyveromyces sp., Geotrichum sp., and Pichia sp. This report provides evidence that Y. lipolytica is a novel 2-PE producer. Moreover, the titers of 2-PE obtained in Y. lipolytica NCYC3825 non-optimized cultures, nearly 2 g/l, are competitive to titers obtained by the other species.