Production of diacylglycerols from glycerol monooleate and ethyl oleate through free and immobilized lipase-catalyzed consecutive reactions

The ability of free and immobilized lipase on the production of diacylglycerols (DAG) by transesterification of glycerol monooleate (GMO) and ethyl oleate was investigated. Among three free lipases such as lipase G (Penicillium cyclopium), lipase AK (Pseudomonas fluorescens) and lipase PS (Pseudomonas cepacia), lipase PS exhibited the highest DAG productivity, and the DAG content gradually increased up to 24 hours reaction and then remained steady. The comparative result for DAG productivity between free lipase PS and immobilized lipases (lipase PS-D and Lipozyme RM IM) during nine times of 24 hours reaction indicated that total DAG production was higher in immobilized lipase PS-D (183.5mM) and Lipozyme RM IM (309.5mM) than free lipase PS (122.0mM) at the first reaction, and that the DAG production rate was reduced by consecutive reactions, in which more sn-1,3-DAG was synthesized than sn-1,2-DAG. During the consecutive reactions, the activity of lipase PS was relatively steady by showing similar DAG content, whereas DAG production of lipase PS-D and Lipozyme RM IM was gradually decreased to 69.9 and 167.1mM at 9th reaction, respectively, resulting in 62% and 46% reduced production when compared with 1st reaction. Interestingly, from 7th reaction lipase PS produced more DAG than immobilized lipase PS-D, and exhibited a stable activity for DAG production. Therefore, the present study suggested that DAG productivity between GMO and ethyl oleate was higher in immobilized lipases than free lipases, but the activity was reduced with repeated uses.