Monoterpenes catabolism

Preliminary studies on monoterpene catabolism have been carried out with peppermint. In this species catabolism is greatly accelerated at the onset of flowering, coincident with the conversion of menthone to menthol and to lesser quantities of menthyl acetate and neomenthol (Burbott and Loomis, 1969) (Fig. 10). The transacetylase responsible for the accumulation of menthyl acetate in flowering mint has been partially purified and... 

Biosynthetic and bloregulatory studies. In recent years substantial advances have been made In understanding the biosynthesis and catabolism of monoterpenes In plants (94). In the so called essential oil plants the monoterpenes are predominantly carbocyclic and hence monoterpene cyclases have been a primary focus of the research (94). 

Fig. 19.11. Catabolism of monoterpenes (Croteau, 1988 modified and used with permission of the copyright owner, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam).

Croteau, R., Catabolism of monoterpenes in essential oil plants, in Flavors and Fragrances A World Perspective (B. M. Lawrence, B. D. Mookherjee, and B. J. Willis, eds.), 65-84, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988. 

Several sesquiterpenes play well-defined and essential roles in higher and lower plants, including the hormone abscisic acid, furanoid phytoalexins, lactone antifeedants, and numerous fungal antibiotics (Herout, 1971 Rucker, 1972). No specific function has been demonstrated for most sesquiterpenes however, an allelopathic or allelochemic role is commonly ascribed to these compounds, as for monoterpenes. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes are not metabolically inert, but are rapidly synthesized and catabolized (Croteau and Loomis, 1972 Francis, 1972) and thus may also play a dynamic role in metabolism. Virtually nothing is known about the catabolism of sesquiterpenes. 

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