PRODUCTION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS BY YEASTS IN BIOREFINERIES: ECOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND BIOTECHNOLOGICAL OUTLOOKS

Abstract

Among the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, at least ten rely on better usage and valuation of wastes since this attitude leads to economic and sustainable development, water-food-energy security, and environmental protection. Considering the worldwide amount of daily produced agroindustrial residues and the employment of enzymes and/or microbial cells in transformation processes, biorefineries represent a growing economic sector with high potential to meet Agenda 2030's SGDs. Indeed, by employing lignocellulosic materials as feedstocks and microorganisms as catalysts, second-generation (2G) biorefineries stand out as a productive environment able to provide several high-added value compounds. This is the case for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including ethanol, produced by yeasts from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. This chapter reviews the ecological yeast-insect-angiosperm relationship that is the reason behind most of the VOCs generated in natural environments. From then on, the chapter advances to biotechnological and sustainable traits of using lignocellulosic wastes in yeast fermentation processes aiming to produce these high-added value compounds.