The chemical reactions and pathways involving the catabolism of aromatic amino acids to produce aromatic alcohols with one carbon less than the starting amino acid. In S. cerevisiae, this is known to occur for leucine, isoleucine, valine, methionine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, or tryptophan. When an aromatic family amino acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, or tryptophan, is used as the substrate, 2-phenylethanol, 4-hydroxyphenylethanol, or tryptophol, respectively, is produced. Often referred to as the Ehrlich pathway, these reactions generally occur during fermentation to produce a variety of alcohols, often collectively referred to as fusel alcohols. Depending on the redox state of the cells, carboxylic acid derivatives may be produced instead of alcohols.
aromatic amino acid family catabolic process to alcohol via Ehrlich pathway