Perspectives for the microbial production of methyl propionate integrated with product recovery.

•Methyl propionate has been produced by fermentation using a fused enzyme.•Product formation kinetics integrated with in situ gas stripping has been characterized.•The conceptual design for integrated bio-based production and recovery was developed.•The proposed two-step production process led to substrate, product, and energy losses.•Avoiding intermediate product recovery is crucial to achieve a profitable process.