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Nowadays, food, cosmetic, environmental and pharmaceutical fields are searching for alternative processes to obtain their major products in a more sustainable way. This fact is related to the increasing demand from the consumer market for natural products to substitute synthetic additives. Industrial biotechnology appears as a promising area for this purpose; however, the success of its application is highly dependent of the availability of a suitable microorganism. To overcome this drawback, the isolation of microorganisms from diverse sources, including fermented food, adverse environments, contaminated samples or agro-industrial wastes is an important approach that can provide a more adaptable strain able to be used as biocatalyst and that exhibit resistance to industrial conditions and high yields/productivities in biotechnological production of natural compounds. The aim of this review is to provide a solid set of information on the state of the art of isolation and screening studies for obtaining novel biocatalysts able to produce natural compounds, focusing in aromas, biosurfactants, polysaccharides and microbial oils.

Products that bear the label "natural" have gained more attention in the marketplace. In this approach, the production of aroma compounds through biotransformation or bioconversion has been receiving more incentives in economic and research fields. Among the substrates used in these processes, terpenes can be highlighted for their versatility and low cost; some examples are limonene, α-pinene, and β-pinene. This work focused on the biotransformation of the two bicyclic monoterpenes, α-pinene and β-pinene; the use of different biocatalysts; the products obtained; and the conditions employed in the process.