Increased production of ω-hydroxynonanoic acid and α,ω-nonanedioic acid from olive oil by a constructed biocatalytic system

ω-Hydroxynonanoic acid and α,ω-nonanedioic acid are used for synthesizing diverse chemicals. Although biological methods are developed, their concentrations are low due to the toxicity of high concentrations of the hydrophobic chemicals toward biocatalysts. Here, we constructed a biocatalytic system with high productivity by adding an adsorbent resin and a strong base anion-exchange resin, reducing the solubility of ω-hydroxynonanoic acid and α,ω-nonanedioic acid, feeding ω-hydroxynonanoic acid, and introducing a cofactor regeneration system. The constructed biocatalytic system converted 300 mM (83.9 g L-1) and 154 mM (43.5 g L-1) oleic acid in the olive oil hydrolysate obtained after resin extraction, which were derived from 110 and 54 g L-1 olive oil, respectively, into 202 mM (35.2 g L-1) ω-hydroxynonanoic acid and 103 mM (19.4 g L-1) α,ω-nonanedioic acid, which are 21- and 24-fold higher values than the previously reported results, respectively. This study may contribute to the industrial biosynthesis of ω-hydroxynonanoic acid and α,ω-nonanedioic acid from olive oil.