Abstract
Currently obtained from glycerol through microbial fermentation, the demand of 1,3‐dihydroxyacetone (DHA) has significantly grown during the course of the last decade, driven by the consumer passion for a tan and increasing awareness of UV photodamage to the skin caused by prolonged exposure to the sun. We provide an updated bioeconomy perspective into a valued bioproduct (DHA), whose supply and production from glycerol, we argue in this study, will rapidly expand and diversify, with important global health benefits.
Highlights
Obtained from glycerol through microbial fermentation, over the acetic acid bacteria, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA; 1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone) is the simplest ketone form of sugars and an important intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism in higher plants and animals formed during glycolysis.[1]
In the solid-state, DHA exists as a dimer with a dioxan structure, which, upon dissolution, readily dissociates into a mixture of free carbonyl and hydrated monomers (Scheme 1).[2]
Its browning effects, exploited to mask the effects of vitiligo,[5] were discovered by accident in the 1930s: attempts to treat diabetes patients with oral doses of DHA resulted in a deep yellow coloring of gums.[6]
Summary
Obtained from glycerol through microbial fermentation, over the acetic acid bacteria, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA; 1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone) is the simplest ketone form of sugars (ketoses) and an important intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism in higher plants and animals formed during glycolysis.[1] In the solid-state, DHA exists as a dimer with a dioxan structure, which, upon dissolution, readily dissociates into a mixture of free carbonyl and hydrated monomers (Scheme 1).[2]. Dimeric DHA in the solid state dissociates into a mixture of free carbonyl and hydrated monomers upon dissolution. In the 1950s, Wittgenstein rediscovered the skin browning caused by DHA while studying the effect of large oral doses of DHA in children with glycogen storage disease. We provide an updated bioeconomy perspective into a valued bioproduct (DHA), whose supply and production from readily available glycerol, we argue, will rapidly expand and diversify
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