MANUFACTURE 29 To their credit, chemical manufacturers have


made steady progress toward cleaner operations. Continuous-flow reactors reduce waste and improve safety; solid catalysts replace liquid acids; renewable feedstocks displace petroleum. Yet these can often be incremental improvements on processes that are inherently constrained by thermodynamics and stoichiometry. At some point, further gains in sustainability or


purity become disproportionately expensive. The industry is reaching that plateau, highly optimized, yet difficult to decarbonize. This has prompted formulators and suppliers to look to biology for the next leap forward.


Fermentation: A biotech revolution with limits If classical chemistry built the industry, fermentation gave it a new language. Once limited to producing vitamins, organic acids, amino acids, and preservatives, microbial fermentation now supplies a growing range of cosmetic actives, texturizers, and lipids — from hyaluronic acid and ceramides to biosurfactants and ferment-derived squalane. With advances in metabolic engineering, microorganisms can now convert sugars, glycerol, or plant oils into molecules once accessible only through complex chemical synthesis. The appeal is clear: renewable carbon in; high-value functionality out. Fermentation aligns naturally with


sustainability goals. It uses renewable feedstocks, creates complex molecules with ease, and offers powerful marketing narratives around ‘bio-derived’ and ‘clean beauty’. However, industrial fermentation is energy-


intensive and capital heavy. Systems are often dilute and characterised by modest titres, making purification costly. Process rigidity is another constraint. Changing a fermentation product often requires reengineering the organism and revalidating the process, a far cry from the plug- and-play flexibility of chemical synthesis. The industry’s success stories illustrate both


the power and the limits of fermentation. Hyaluronic acid, once extracted from rooster


combs, is now produced microbially at ton scale using Bacillus and Streptococcus strains. The environmental and ethical advantages are undeniable, yet production still involves costly purification to control molecular-weight distribution and endotoxin content. Biosurfactants such as sophorolipids and


rhamnolipids offer mildness and biodegradability unmatched by traditional surfactants. However, their titres are low, and foam stability issues have limited adoption beyond niche formulations. Fermentation-derived squalane, produced


from engineered yeast, has become a commercial success, a rare case where biotechnology achieved both performance and cost competitiveness. Its route benefited from high carbon efficiency and strong consumer resonance with ‘vegan squalane’. These examples demonstrate that


fermentation can absolutely succeed — but only www.personalcaremagazine.com


this as “molecular surgery with biological precision.” Enzymes are also renewable and


biodegradable, eliminating heavy-metal residues and persistent catalyst waste. When combined with renewable fatty- acid or sugar feedstocks, biocatalytic


routes can move an entire process several steps closer to the circular-carbon goal that personal care brands increasingly prioritize. The range of chemistries accessible


through enzymes is far broader than many


realize. Those most relevant to personal care ingredient manufacturing include: Esterification and transesterification by lipases,


under particular economic and compound-specific conditions. For many high-volume ingredients, its energy demand, purification footprint, and process inflexibility remain obstacles to broad replacement of classical chemistry.


Biocatalysis: bridging chemical and biological worlds Between the precision of biology and the scalability of chemistry lies biocatalysis, the use of isolated enzymes to catalyse chemical reactions. At its simplest, a biocatalyst replaces the


traditional acid, base, or metal catalyst with an enzyme, a protein evolved to perform specific reaction extremely efficiently under mild conditions. In an era where the personal care ingredients industry is measured not only by yield but by carbon footprint and purity metrics, that specificity becomes a strategic advantage. In contrast to chemical catalysts, which often


generate unwanted isomers and by-products or require elevated temperatures and strong reagents, enzymes act selectively and gently, typically between 30–70°C and neutral pH. This reduces side-product formation and simplifies purification, cutting both waste and downstream cost. Bornscheuer and Kazlauskas (2019) describe


e.g. Candida antarctica lipase B, CalB. These reactions create emollient esters, triglyceride blends, and structured lipids under solvent-free or low-temperature conditions. Amidation using acyl transferases or


engineered hydrolases offers a promising route to mild surfactants such as N-acyl amino acids. Oxidation and reduction by dehydrogenases,


oxidases, and peroxygenases should prove useful for fragrance intermediates, chiral alcohols, and fine chemical precursors. Hydrolysis reactions for controlled and mild


modification of natural oils and waxes, enabling tailored sensorial properties. Selective hydroxylation and epoxidation


opening avenues for natural-like actives that would be synthetically intractable. Glycosylation of active ingredients for


improved solubility and stability. In short, biocatalysis extends far beyond


‘gentle esterification’: it is a platform chemistry, capable of producing surfactant backbones, emollients, wax analogues, aroma esters, and even active compounds with chirality or regio- specificity that traditional catalysis cannot easily reach.


While many personal care companies still view enzymes as niche, the commercial track record is quietly expanding.


January 2026 PERSONAL CARE MAGAZINE


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