Chunyu Li , Baofu Huang

Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Bioscience Methods, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 3   doi: 10.5376/bm.2024.15.0013
Received: 08 Apr., 2024    Accepted: 23 May, 2024    Published: 10 Jun., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Li C.Y., and Huang Y.M., 2024, Metabolic engineering of tea: enhancing bioactive compound production, Bioscience Methods, 15(3): 114-123 (doi: 10.5376/bm.2024.15.0013)

Tea is a widely consumed beverage globally, rich in bioactive compounds such as catechins, theaflavins, and thearubigins, which have significant health benefits. However, the content of these compounds is influenced by various factors, making it important to enhance their production in tea. This study presents the biosynthetic pathways of key bioactive compounds in tea, the key enzymes and genes involved, and strategies to increase the production of these compounds through metabolic engineering. The focus is on the application of modern technologies such as genetic modification, CRISPR-Cas9, and metabolic pathway redirection in tea metabolic engineering, with case studies demonstrating the impact of metabolic engineering on the production of bioactive compounds. The findings indicate that metabolic engineering can significantly increase the yield of key bioactive compounds in tea. Genome editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, provide powerful tools for precise regulation of metabolic pathways, effectively enhancing the synthesis efficiency of target compounds. By gaining a deep understanding of the metabolic pathways and regulatory mechanisms of bioactive compounds in tea, this study provides a theoretical foundation for developing tea products with higher health value. Metabolic engineering strategies not only increase the content of beneficial compounds in tea but also optimize the production process, meeting the market demand for high-quality tea products.

Tea; Bioactive compounds; Metabolic engineering; Genome editing; CRISPR-Cas9