Effect of lipase specificity on triglyceride synthesis

Summary Enzymatic triglyceride synthesis from free fatty acid and glycerol is shown to be catalysed by both 1,3-specific lipase and non-specific lipase. This paper elucidates the mechanism of the reaction, showing that, with a 1,3-specific lipase, the 1,3-diolein enzymatically formed has to isomerise spontaneously to 1,2-diolein in presence of oleic acid, before being transformed to triolein by the enzyme.