A Brief Journey into the History of and Future Sources and Uses of Fatty Acids.

Michela Cerone,Terry K Smith

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.570401

Abstract

Fats and lipids have always had a primary role in the history of humankind, from ancient civilisations to the modern and contemporary time, going from domestic and cosmetic uses, to the first medical applications and later to the large-scale industrial uses for food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and biofuel production. Sources and uses of those have changed during time following the development of chemical sciences and industrial technological advances. Plants, fish, and animal fats have represented the primary source of lipids and fats for century. Nowadays, the use of fatty acid sources has taken a turn: industries are mainly interested in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which have beneficial properties in human health; and also, for high-value fatty acids product for innovative and green production of biofuel and feedstocks. Thus, the constant increase in demand of fatty acids, the fact that marine and vegetable sources are not adequate to meet the high level of fatty acids required worldwide and climate change, have determined the necessity of the search for renewable and sustainable sources for fatty acids. Biotechnological advances and bioengineering have started looking at the genetic modification of algae, bacteria, yeasts, seeds, and plants to develop cell factory able to produce high value fatty acid products in a renewable and sustainable manner. This innovative approach applied to FA industry is a peculiar example of how biotechnology can serve as a powerful mean to drive the production of high value fatty acid derivatives on the concept of circular bioeconomy, based on the reutilisation of organic resources for alternative and sustainable productive patterns that are environmentally friendly.

Highlights

Throughout the history of humankind, fats and lipids have been considered extremely important because of their value in food, cosmetics, and natural medicine, as well as many other domestic applications
This study showed a scalable and sustainable de novo biosynthesis of Fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) from glucose, obtained from lignocellulose biomass, into a genetically modified E.coli to exploit the ethanolproducing pathway from Zymomonas mobilis, to increase the fatty acyl-CoA pool and the heterologous expression of acylCoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase from Acinetobacter baylyi [97]
Fatty acids are one of the major constituents of all organisms, and they play essential structural and functional roles for the biology of cells. As it has been underlined in this review, FAs and their derivatives have extended values that go beyond their biological properties: they are building blocks for a large variety of chemicals that can be applied as high value starting materials in various industrial fields such as food, feedstocks, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biorefineries, plastics, oleochemicals, and many others

Summary

A Brief Journey into the History of and Future Sources and Uses of Fatty Acids

Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom. Biotechnological advances and bioengineering have started looking at the genetic modification of algae, bacteria, yeasts, seeds, and plants to develop cell factory able to produce high value fatty acid products in a renewable and sustainable manner. This innovative approach applied to FA industry is a peculiar example of how biotechnology can serve as a powerful mean to drive the production of high value fatty acid derivatives on the concept of circular bioeconomy, based on the reutilisation of organic resources for alternative and sustainable productive patterns that are environmentally friendly

INTRODUCTION

Findings

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVE