A two steps enzymatic procedure to obtain sterol esters,tocopherols and fatty acid ethyl esters from soybean oil deodorizer distillate

Soybean oil deodorizer distillate (SODD) was enzymatically modified to obtain a product mixture comprised mainly of sterol esters, tocopherols, and fatty acid ethyl esters. Firstly, the original SODD was mixed with oleic acid to reduce its melting point from 65–70 to 30–35 °C and also to produce a reaction mixture with a ratio of free fatty acids (FFA) to sterols close to 2 to improve the progress of sterols esterification. Two enzymatic steps were used in order to separate sterols esterification and ethyl esterification in time and space. The first enzymatic step (in the presence of Candida rugosa lipase) allowed to efficiently transform more than 90% of the original sterols in a short period of time (5 h). The second enzymatic step (in the presence of Novozym 435) converted more than 95% of the FFA in less than 3 h. In addition, the stability of both biocatalysts has been evaluated and both bioprocesses have been scaled-up reutilizing the same batch of lipase up to 8 and 3 times for the first and the second enzymatic step, respectively. The final product obtained is intended to be used as starting material for the purification of sterol esters, tocopherols, and fatty acid ethyl esters via supercritical fluid extraction.     

Two step ethanolysis: A simple and efficient way to improve the enzymatic biodiesel synthesis catalyzed by an immobilized–stabilized lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus

In this study the immobilization and stabilization of a lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) on aldehyde-Lewatit (Lew-TLL) are described. TLL immobilization was rapid and over 90% of lipase activity was recovered after the immobilization. Lew-TLL was 10-fold more thermo stable than the commercial TLL preparation, Lipozyme TL-IM. The stabilized Lew-TLL was used for the enzymatic transesterification of ethanol and soybean oil. The transesterification was carried out following different strategies. First, with 7.5:1 molar ratio of ethanol:soybean oil, 15% immobilized enzyme and 4% water at 30 °C. In the presence of n-hexane, the transesterification reached 100% conversion, while in solvent-free system the yield was 75%. Second, at stoichiometric molar ratio, the yield was 70% conversion after 10 h of reaction in both systems. After this, transesterification was carried out by three stepwise additions of ethanol with a yield of 80% conversion, while a two step ethanolysis produced 100% conversion after 10 h of reaction in both solvent and solvent-free systems.     

Production of human milk fat substitutes enriched in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids using immobilized commercial lipases and Candida parapsilosis lipase/acyltransferase

In human milk fat (HMF), palmitic acid (20–30%), the major saturated fatty acid, is mostly esterified at the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols, while unsaturated fatty acids are at the sn-1,3 positions, conversely to that occurring in vegetable oils.This study aims at the production of HMF substitutes by enzyme-catalyzed interesterification of tripalmitin with (i) oleic acid (system I) or (ii) omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) (system II) in solvent-free media. Interesterification activity and batch operational stability of commercial immobilized lipases from Rhizomucor miehei (Lipozyme RM IM), Thermomyces lanuginosa (Lipozyme TL IM) and Candida antarctica (Novozym 435) from Novozymes, DK, and Candida parapsilosis lipase/acyltransferase immobilized on Accurel MP 1000 were evaluated. After 24-h reaction at 60 °C, molar incorporation of oleic acid was about 27% for all the commercial lipases tested and 9% with C. parapsilosis enzyme. Concerning omega-3 PUFA, the highest incorporations were observed with Novozym 435 (21.6%) and Lipozyme RM IM (20%), in contrast with C. parapsilosis enzyme (8.5%) and Lipozyme TL IM (8.2%). In system I, Lipozyme RM IM maintained its activity for 10 repeated 23-h batches while for Lipozyme TL IM, Novozym 435 and C. parapsilosis enzyme, linear (half-life time, t_1/2 = 154 h), series-type (t_1/2 = 253 h) and first-order (t_1/2 = 34.5 h) deactivations were respectively observed. In system II, Lipozyme RM IM showed linear deactivation (t_1/2 = 276 h), while Novozym 435 (t_1/2 = 322 h) and C. parapsilosis enzyme (t_1/2 = 127 h), presented series-type deactivation. Both activity and stability of the biocatalysts depended on the acyl donor used.     

Effect of high salt concentrations on the stability of immobilized lipases: Dramatic deleterious effects of phosphate anions

We have analyzed the effects of the buffer nature on the stability of immobilized lipases. Commercial phospholipase Lecitase Ultra (LU), lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) and lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) have been immobilized on octyl-glyoxyl agarose beads. The enzymes were readily inactivated using 4 M sodium phosphate but 6 M NaCl did not inactivate them. Using 2 M of sodium phosphate, the inactivation of the 3 immobilized enzymes still was very significant even at 25 °C but at lower rate than with higher phosphate concentration. Thermal stress inactivations of the immobilized enzymes revealed that even 100 mM sodium phosphate produced a significant decrease in enzyme stability; this effect was less pronounced for Lecitase but dramatic for CALB. While 6 M NaCl presented slightly positive (LU) or negative (TLL) effects on their thermal stabilities of, CALB was thermally stabilized under the same conditions. Results were very different using free enymes. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed dramatic structural rearrangements of the immobilized enzymes in the presence of high phosphate concentration. From these results, the use of sodium phosphate does not seem to be recommended for studies on thermal stability of lipases, although this should be verified for each enzyme and immobilized preparation.     

Synthesis of structured lipids by two enzymatic steps: Ethanolysis of fish oils and esterification of 2-monoacylglycerols

This paper studies the synthesis of structured triacylglycerols (STAGs), rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) by a two-step enzymatic process: (i) alcoholysis of fish oils (cod liver and tuna oils) with ethanol to obtain 2-monoacylglycerols (2-MAGs), catalyzed by 1,3 specific lipases and (ii) esterification of these 2-MAGs with caprylic acid (CA, 8:0), also catalyzed by a 1,3 specific lipase, to produce STAGs of structure CA–PUFA–CA. As regards the alcoholysis reaction, three factors have been studied: the influence of the type of lipase used (lipase D from Rhizopus oryzae, immobilized on Accurel MP1000, and Novozym 435 from Candida antarctica), the operational mode of a stirred tank reactor (STR operating in discontinuous and continuous mode) and the intensity of treatment (IOT = lipase amount × reaction time/oil amount). Although higher 2-MAG yields were obtained with lipase D, Novozym 435 was selected due to its greater stability in the operational conditions. The highest 2-MAG yield (63%) was attained in the STR operating in discontinuous mode at an IOT of 1 g lipase × h g oil^?1 (at higher IOT the 2-MAGs were degraded to glycerol). This system was scaled up to 100 times the initial volume, achieving a similar yield (65%) at the same IOT. The 2-MAGs in the final alcoholysis reaction mixture were separated from ethyl esters by solvent extraction using solvents of low toxicity (ethanol and hexane); the 2-MAG recovery yield was over 90% and the purity was approximately 87–90%. Regarding the esterification of the 2-MAGs, the following factors were studied: the influence of the lipase type used, the presence or absence of solvent (hexane) and the reaction time or intensity of treatment (IOT = lipase amount × reaction time/2-MAG amount). Of the five lipases tested, the highest STAG percentages (over 90%) were attained with lipases D and DF, immobilized on Accurel MP1000. These STAGs contain 64% CA, of which 98% is at positions 1 and 3. Position 2 contains 5% CA and 45% PUFAs, which means that all the PUFAs that were located at position 2 in the original oil remain in that position in the final STAGs. The lipase D immobilized on Accurel MP1000 is stable in the operational conditions used in the esterification reaction. Finally the purification of STAGs was carried out by neutralization of free fatty acids with hydroethanolic solution of KOH and extraction of STAGs with hexane. By this method purity was over 95% and separation yields were about 80%.     

Process intensification of immobilized lipase catalysis by microwave irradiation in the synthesis of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) esters

4-Chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) is a selective systemic herbicide which is absorbed by leaves and roots. MCPA esters are preferred due to their low water solubility and environmental friendliness. Esterification of MCPA with n-butanol was investigated as a model reaction using immobilized enzymes under the influence of microwave irradiation. Different immobilized enzymes such as Novozym 435, Lipozyme TL IM, Lipozyme RM IM and Lipase AYS Amano were studied under microwave irradiation amongst which Novozym 435 (immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B) was the best catalyst. Effects of various parameters were systematically studied on rates and conversion. Under microwave irradiation, the initial rates were observed to increase up to 2-fold. Under optimized conditions of 0.1 mmol MCPA and 0.3 mmol n-butanol in 15 mL 1,4-dioxane as solvent, Novozym 435 showed a conversion of 83% at 60 °C in 6 h. Based on initial rate and progress curve data, the reaction was shown to follow the Ping Pong bi–bi mechanism with inhibition by MCPA and n-butanol. Esterification of MCPA was also studied with different alcohols such as isopropyl alcohol, n-pentanol, n-hexanol, benzyl alcohol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol.     

Improving the activity and stability of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase Lip2 by immobilization on polyethyleneimine-coated polyurethane foam

In this study, polyurethane foam (PUF) was used for immobilization of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase Lip2 via polyethyleneimine (PEI) coating and glutaraldehyde (GA) coupling. The activity of immobilized lipases was found to depend upon the size of the PEI polymers and the way of GA treatment, with best results obtained for covalent-bind enzyme on glutaraldehyde activated PEI-PUF (MW 70,000 Da), which was 1.7 time greater activity compared to the same enzyme immobilized without PEI and GA. Kinetic analysis shows the hydrolytic activity of both free and immobilized lipases on triolein substrate can be described by Michaelis–Menten model. The K_m for the immobilized and free lipases on PEI-coated PUF was 58.9 and 9.73 mM, respectively. The V_max values of free and immobilized enzymes on PEI-coated PUF were calculated as 102 and 48.6 U/mg enzyme, respectively. Thermal stability for the immobilization preparations was enhanced compared with that for free preparations. At 50 °C, the free enzyme lost most of its initial activity after a 30 min of heat treatment, while the immobilized enzymes showed significant resistance to thermal inactivation (retaining about 70% of its initial activity). Finally, the immobilized lipase was used for the production of lauryl laurate in hexane medium. Lipase immobilization on the PEI support exhibited a significantly improved operational stability in esterification system. After re-use in 30 successive batches, a high ester yield (88%) was maintained. These results indicate that PEI, a polymeric bed, could not only bridge support and immobilized enzymes but also create a favorable micro-environment for lipase. This study provides a simple, efficient protocol for the immobilization of Y. lipolytica lipase Lip2 using PUF as a cheap and effective material.     

Geranyl acetate synthesis catalyzed by Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase immobilized on electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane

Isolated Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) was immobilized by different protocols on the polyacrylonitrile nanofibers membrane. The conditions for immobilization of TLL were optimized by investigating effect of protein concentration, time and temperature on the extent of immobilization. The effect of immobilization on the catalytic activity and stability of lipase was studied thoroughly. The immobilized TLL was used as biocatalyst for geranyl acetate synthesis with geraniol and vinyl acetate as substrates and their performance was compared with free enzyme. The TLL immobilized by physical adsorption shows higher transesterification and hydrolytic activities than that of covalently linked or native TLL. There was 32 and 9 fold increase in transesterification activity of TLL immobilized by adsorption and covalent bonding, while hydrolytic activity increases only by 3.6 and 1.8 fold respectively. The optimum conditions for immobilization in both the cases were immobilization time 90–150 min, temperature 45 °C and protein concentration of 2 mg/ml. The percentage conversion of ester was more than 90% and 66% in case of physically adsorbed and covalently bonded enzyme respectively as compared to native one. However, covalently immobilized TLL shows higher operational stability than native and physically adsorbed TLL.     

Optimization and kinetic study on the synthesis of palm oil ester using Lipozyme TL IM

Enzymatic synthesis of palm oil esters (POE) was carried out via alcoholysis of palm oil (PO) and oleyl alcohol (OA) catalyzed by Lipozyme TL IM. The optimum reaction conditions were: temperature: 60 °C; enzyme load: 24.7 wt%; substrate ratio: 1:3 (PO/OA), impeller speed: 275 rpm and reaction time: 3 h. At the optimum condition, the conversion of POE was 79.54%. Reusability study showed that Lipozyme TL IM could be used for 5 cycles with conversion above 50%. The alcoholysis reaction kinetic follows the Ping-Pong Bi-Bi mechanism characterized by the V_max, K_m(PO), and K_m(OA) values of 32.7 mmol/min, 0.3147 mmol/ml and 0.9483 mmol/ml, respectively. The relationship between initial reaction rate and temperature was also established based on the Arrhenius law.     

Optimized enzymatic synthesis of ascorbyl esters from lard using Novozym 435 in co-solvent mixtures

A mild and efficient method for the conversion of fatty acid methyl esters from lard into ascorbyl esters via lipase-catalyzed transesterification in co-solvent mixture is described. A solvent engineering strategy was firstly applied to improve fatty acid ascorbyl esters production. The co-solvent mixture of 30% t-pentanol:70% isooctane (v/v) was optimal. Response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) were employed to estimate the effects of reaction parameters, such as reaction time (12–36 h), temperature (45–65 °C), enzyme amount (10–20%, w/w, of fat acid methyl esters), and substrate molar ratio of fatty acid methyl esters to ascorbic acid (8:1–12:1) for the synthesis of fatty acid ascorbyl esters in co-solvent mixture. Based on the RSM analysis, the optimal reaction conditions were determined as follows: reaction time 34.32 h, temperature 54.6 °C, enzyme amount 12.5%, substrate molar ratio 10.22:1 and the maximum conversion of fatty acid ascorbyl esters was 69.18%. The method proved to be applicable for the synthesis of ascorbyl esters using Novozym 435 in solvent.     

Novel minor lipase from Rhizopus chinensis during solid-state fermentation: Biochemical characterization and its esterification potential for ester synthesis

Rhizopus chinensis produces two lipases that catalyze ester synthesis when cultured under solid-state fermentation. The Lip2 was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. It has an apparent molecular weight of 33 kDa estimated from SDS–PAGE and 32 kDa calculated from analytical gel permeation, with synthetic activity and purification fold of 96.8 U/mg and 138.3, respectively. Maximum hydrolytic activity was obtained at pH 8.0–8.5 and 40 °C using pNPP as substrate. Slight activation of the enzyme was observed when Mn²⁺ is present. The enzyme was most active on p-nitrophenyl laurate (C12). The purified lipase exhibited maximum synthetic activity at pH memory of 6.0 and 30 ^oC. Most of ethyl esters synthesized by lyophilized enzyme achieved good yields (>90%), and caprylic acid served as the best acyl donor. The enzyme presented a particular affinity for ethanol, n-propanol and n-hexanol, with conversion of 92%, 93% and 92%, respectively, after 20 h incubation.     

Kinetic model of biodiesel production using immobilized lipase Candida antarctica lipase B

We have designed a kinetic model of biodiesel production using Novozym 435 (Nz435) with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) as a catalyst. The scheme assumed reversibility of all reaction steps and imitated phase effects by introducing various molecular species of water and methanol. The global model was assembled from separate reaction blocks analyzed independently. Computer simulations helped to explore behavior of the reaction system under different conditions. It was found that methanolysis of refined oil by CALB is slow, because triglycerides (T) are the least reactive substrates. Conversion to 95% requires 1.5–6 days of incubation depending on the temperature, enzyme concentration, glycerol inhibition, etc. Other substrates, free fatty acids (F), diglycerides (D) and monoglycerides (M), are utilized much faster (1–2 h). This means that waste oil is a better feedstock for CALB. Residual enzymatic activity in biodiesel of standard quality causes increase of D above its specification level because of the reaction 2M ↔ D + G. Filtration or alkaline treatment of the product prior to storage resolves this problem. The optimal field of Nz435 application appears to be decrease of F, M, D in waste oil before the conventional alkaline conversion. Up to 30-fold reduction of F-content can be achieved in 1–2 h, and the residual enzyme (if any) does not survive the following alkaline treatment.     

Biocatalytic acylation of sugar alcohols by 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid

Enzymatic synthesis of aromatic esters of four different sugar alcohols (xylitol, arabitol, mannitol, and sorbitol) with 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid was performed in organic solvent medium, using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase (Novozyme 435), and molecular sieves for control of the water content. The influence of reaction parameters on the conversion has been investigated, including reaction time, temperature, alcohol/acid molar ratio, and enzyme amount. The highest conversions (94% for xylitol, 98% for arabitol, 80% for mannitol, and 93% for sorbitol) were obtained in pure tert-butanol at 60 °C and 72 h reaction time, 0.3 alcohol/acid molar ratio, and 0.5 g/mol enzyme/substrate ratio. The isolated new sugar alcohols esters were identified by different spectral analyses. MALDI-TOF MS analysis showed the formation of monoesters, diesters, and small quantities of triesters for all investigated sugar alcohols. The catalytic efficiency of the enzyme was higher for the pentitol substrates, decreasing in the following order: arabitol > xylitol > sorbitol > mannitol. These new compounds could have interesting applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations.     

Characterization of the lipase immobilized on Mg–Al hydrotalcite for biodiesel

Immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae lipase by physical adsorption on Mg–Al hydrotalcite with a Mg/Al molar ratio of 4.0 led to a markedly improved performance of the enzyme. The immobilized lipase retained activity over wider ranges of temperature and pH than those of the free lipase. The immobilized lipase retained more than 95% relative activity at 50 °C, while the free lipase retained about 88%. The kinetic constants of the immobilized and free lipases were also determined. The apparent activation energies (E_a) of the free and immobilized lipases were estimated to be 6.96 and 2.42 kJ mol^?1, while the apparent inactivation energies (E_d) of free and immobilized lipases were 6.51 and 6.27 kJ mol^?1, respectively. So the stability of the immobilized lipase was higher than that of free lipase. The water content of the oil must be kept below 2.0 wt% and free fatty acid content of the oil must be kept below 3.5 mg KOH g [oil]^?1 in order to get the best conversion. This immobilization method was found to be satisfactory to produce a stable and functioning biocatalyst which could maintain high reactivity for repeating 10 batches with ester conversion above 81.3%.     

Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of palm kernel press cake for production of bioethanol

Palm kernel press cake (PKC) is a residue of palm oil extraction, which was found to contain 48.5% of total carbohydrates of which 35.2% was mannan. The present study examines enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides from the cell-wall material present in PKC to obtain monosaccharides that can be substrate in various fermentation processes such as ethanol production. The requirements for pretreatment were investigated and it was found that mannan in PKC was readily hydrolysed without any pretreatment. Several enzyme preparations were tested and Mannaway 25L was found as the best for releasing mannose, and Gammanase 1.0L worked well in degrading cellulose and mannose. Binary mixtures of enzymes were tested to increase the conversion, and 1:1 mixture of Mannaway 25L and Gammanase 1.0L showed good synergistic effect releasing 30% more mannose than the sum obtained using these enzymes individually. Using an enzyme loading of 2.3 mg protein/g PKC resulted in 63% of mannan in PKC being hydrolysed to mannose in 24 h, and in 96 h a total of 365 g mannose and glucose could be produced per kg PKC. Finally, PKC was hydrolysed and fermented using Saccharomyces cerevisiae with an ethanol yield of 125 g/kg PKC.     

High activity and selectivity immobilized lipase on Fe3O4 nanoparticles for banana flavour synthesis

Lipase (E.C.3.1.1.3) from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TL) was directly bonded, through multiple physical interactions, on citric acid functionalized monodispersed Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) in presence of a small amount of hydrophobic functionalities. A very promising scalable synthetic approach ensuring high control and reproducibility of the results, and an easy and green immobilization procedure was chosen for NPs synthesis and lipase anchoring. The size and structure of magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The samples at different degree of functionalization were analysed through thermogravimetric measurements. Lipase immobilization was further confirmed by enzymatic assay and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. Immobilized lipase showed a very high activity recovery up to 144% at pH = 7 and 323% at pH = 7.5 (activity of the immobilized enzyme compared to that of its free form). The enzyme, anchored to the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, to be easy recovered and reused, resulted more stable than the native counterpart and useful to produce banana flavour. The immobilized lipase results less sensitive to the temperature and pH, with the optimum temperature higher of 5 °C and optimum pH up shifted to 7.5 (free lipase optimum pH = 7.0). After 120 days, free and immobilized lipases retained 64% and 51% of their initial activity, respectively. Ester yield at 40 °C for immobilized lipase reached 88% and 100% selectivity.     

The study on microwave assisted enzymatic digestion of ginkgo protein

Microwave-assisted enzymatic digestion (MAED) technique was applied for ginkgo protein digestion with both free and immobilized enzyme. Under the optimized conditions of MAED (0.01 g/mL substrate concentration of bromelain, 4500 U/g enzyme/ginkgo protein, 30 min, 300 W microwave power), a higher digestion rate (7.50%) and a significant increase in antioxidant activity (72.7 mg/g) were obtained in contrast with the conventional methods. With the optimized digestion conditions (0.625% glutaraldehyde (v/v), 0.4 mg/mL initial concentration of bromelain and 4 h of immobilization), the activity and effectiveness factor of immobilized bromelain were respectively 86 U and 81.6%. The results of ginkgo digestion by applying MAED indicated that the digestion rate of immobilized bromelain obtained by MAED method (6.41%) was comparable to that of free bromelain in the conventional digestion (8.13%). In both case with immobilized and free bromelain while applying MAED, a homogeneously abundant distribution of peptide fragments (from 7.863 Da to 5856 Da) and a few different peptide profiles were found. This report brings in conclusion that applying MAED with immobilized enzyme has the potential to obtain the highest number of antioxidant activity peptides.     

Stabilization of ficin extract by immobilization on glyoxyl agarose. Preliminary characterization of the biocatalyst performance in hydrolysis of proteins

A protein extract containing ficin was immobilized on glyoxyl agarose at pH 10 and 25 °C. The free enzyme remained fully active after 24 h at pH 10. However the enzyme immobilized on the support retained only 30% of the activity after this time using a small substrate. After checking the stability of ficin preparations obtained after different enzyme-support multi-interaction times, it was found that it reached a maximum at 3 h (40-folds more stable than the free enzyme at pH 5). The immobilized enzyme was active in a wide range of pH (e.g., retained double activity at pH 10 than the free enzyme) and temperatures (e.g., at 80 °C retained three-folds more activity than the free enzyme). The activity versus casein almost matched the results using the small substrate (60%) at 55 °C. However, in the presence of 2 M of urea, it became three times more active than the free enzyme. The immobilized enzyme could be reused five cycles at 55 °C without losing activity.     

Optimized synthesis of lipase-catalyzed l-ascorbyl laurate by Novozym® 435

l-Ascorbyl laurate is a fatty acid derivative of l-ascorbic acid which can be widely used as a natural antioxidant in both lipid containing food and cosmetic applications. To avoid any possible harmful effects from chemically synthesized product, the enzymatic synthesis appears to be the best way to satisfy the consumer demand for natural antioxidants. The ability of immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (Novozym^® 435) to catalyze the direct esterification between l-ascorbic acid and lauric acid was investigated. Response surface methodology (RSM) and 5-level-4-factor central composite rotatable design (CCRD) were employed to evaluate the effects of synthesis parameters, such as reaction time (2–10 h), temperature (25–65 °C), enzyme amount (10–50% w/w of l-ascorbic acid), and substrate molar ratio of l-ascorbic acid to lauric acid (1:1–1:5) on percentage molar conversion to l-ascorbyl laurate. Based on the analysis result of ridge max, the optimal enzymatic synthesis conditions were predicted as follows: reaction time 6.7 h, temperature 30.6 °C, enzyme amount 34.5%, substrate molar ratio 1:4.3; and the optimal actual yield was 93.2%.     

Improving esterification activity of Burkholderia cepacia lipase encapsulated in silica by bioimprinting with substrate analogues

Bioimprinting is a promising, though relatively unexplored, approach to improving the performance of enzymes. In this study, bioimprinting with substrate analogues of fatty acids was systematically conducted to improve the esterification activity of Burkholderia cepacia lipase that had undergone a sol–gel immobilization procedure with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) as the precursors. The specific activity of the bioimprinted lipases was 3682.0 μmol h^?1 mg protein, which was a 47.9- and 2.5-fold increase over the free and non-imprinted immobilized lipases, respectively. Compared to the free and non-imprinted immobilized lipases, bioimprinted lipases exhibited better thermal stability, and their activity did not change after being incubated at 60 °C for 12 h. Bioimprinted lipases were more easily affected by alcohol than the non-imprinted ones, whose specific activity could be markedly enhanced by ethanol, isopropanol and n-butanol by factors of 1.23-, 1.28- and 1.12-fold, respectively. The reasons for the improvement of imprinted enzyme activity are also discussed based on the surface structure, specific surface area and average pore diameter of the silane particles.