Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), also called methoxatin, is a redox cofactor and antioxidant. Produced by bacteria, it is found in soil and foods such as kiwifruit, as well as human breast milk.Enzymes using PQQ as a redox cofactor are called quinoproteins and play a variety of redox roles. Quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase is used as a glucose sensor in bacteria. PQQ stimulates growth in bacteria. Eukaryote targets, including mammalian lactate dehydrogenase, are of more interest to health. It is suggested that PQQ taken as a dietary supplement could promote mitochondrial biogenesis via this pathway as well as PGC-1α.

Let’s first look at the microbial fermentation synthesis method. The advantages of using this process to produce PQQ are that the production process is controllable, the strains can be reused, there is less pollution to the environment, the reaction is mild, and the production process is safer. This is why the EU market is more recognized by the fermentation method. s reason.

However, it cannot be ignored that the microbial fermentation synthesis method also has problems such as difficulty in obtaining strains, low reaction efficiency, difficulty in product separation, high separation cost, and difficulty in achieving large-scale production. With the improvement of process technology, there will be a breakthrough in microbial fermentation synthesis.

So what about chemical synthesis?

The advantages of using chemical synthesis to produce PQQ are: raw materials are easy to obtain, the current cost is relatively low, intermediates can be extracted separately, the reaction is controllable, and the production efficiency is high.

Similarly, the reaction route of the chemical synthesis method is long, and the intermediates in each step of the reaction process need to be purified, which will cause the loss of the intermediates; the waste generated is difficult to handle and causes environmental pollution. Chemical agents are corrosive to equipment, and potential reagent and gas leakage will cause environmental pollution and many unpredictable dangers.

On the whole, the two processes for producing PQQ have their own advantages and disadvantages. If the PQQ produced by the microbial fermentation method can be finally approved, it is believed that it will greatly promote the development and application of the entire PQQ market.