Lipase: A potential biocatalyst for the synthesis of valuable flavour and fragrance ester compounds

ABSTRACT Biocatalysis has attracted special attention for the synthesis of industrially valuable ester compounds. This review focuses mainly on lipases obtained from different sources (commercially available or newly isolated) as biocatalysts for the synthesis of flavour and fragrance esters in solvent‐free as well as in non‐aqueous reaction media (i.e. organic and neoteric solvents). Neoteric solvents such as ionic liquids and supercritical fluids are greener and environmentally benign; their use in lipase‐catalysed ester synthesis is reviewed. The impact of an immobilization strategy to achieve higher yields (up to 99%) is discussed. The review also highlights the kinetic resolution of some important flavour/fragrance compounds synthesized using several chemo‐enzymatic strategies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The present review mainly focuses on lipases obtained from different sources (commercially available or newly isolated) as biocatalysts for the synthesis of flavour and fragrance esters in solvent‐free as well as in non‐aqueous reaction media. The impact of an immobilization strategy to achieve higher yields is discussed. The review also highlights the kinetic resolution of some important flavour/fragrance compounds synthesized using several chemo‐enzymatic strategies.