Microbial and enzymatic technologies used for the production of natural aroma compounds: Synthesis, recovery modeling, and bioprocesses

•The major achievements in the production of aroma compounds by biotechnological ways.•The methodologies applied for fermentation, synthesis and recovery of aroma compounds.•The advances in bioprocesses used for coupled synthesis/extraction of aroma compounds.•The theoretical study of the mobility of aroma compounds in multicomponent systems. This review describes several methodologies of industrial and academic interest which are implied in the synthesis/extraction of natural aroma compounds by biotechnological processes. The production of natural aroma compounds has recently attracted a great deal of research interest and represents a challenging target for academic and industrial research. In order to overcome the exorbitant cost of flavoring and to cover the need of consumer preferences for natural compounds, biotechnological production has become a very attractive alternative to the chemical production. Biocatalysts from natural origin, particularly microbial cells, have a great potential to produce a wide range of flavors. The use of precursors from natural sources as a mean to improve economical feasibility of these processes is also considered. The production of bio-flavors with microorganisms and enzymes is illustrated in this review by the discussion of the current state of the art of biotechnological advances in this field. The present paper reviews also the recent major achievements such as the advances in solid state fermentation, the bioreactors used for the production and recovery of volatile compounds and the modeling approaches used for the theoretical study of transfer in these processes.