Search

Background: This study investigated the performance of a membrane reactor system for esterification of oleic acid and butyric acid with ethanol by Penicillium crustosum lipase using polyethersulfone membranes with molecular weight cut-offs of 30, 60 and 100 kDa at pressures up to 200 kPa., Results: The confinement of lipase with 60 and 100 kDa membranes showed the best results. The esterification of butyric acid in the membrane reactor and with free lipase showed higher conversions than those obtained with oleic acid, since the system operated with oleic acid was more subject to fouling and thus could not be run for repeated cycles., Conclusion: The confinement of lipase from P. crustosum in a membrane reactor was possible, resulting in the satisfactory conversion of butyric acid to ethyl butyrate with the possibility of reuse of the immobilized enzyme., (© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Lipases produced by a newly isolated Sporidiobolus pararoseus strain have potential catalytic ability for esterification reactions. After production, the enzymatic extracts (conventional crude and precipitated, 'CC' and 'CP', and industrial crude and precipitated, 'IC' e 'IP') were partially characterized. The enzymes presented, in general, higher specificity for short chain alcohols and fatty acids. The precipitated extract showed a good thermal stability, higher than that for crude enzymatic extracts. The 'CC' and 'CP' enzymes presented high activities after exposure to pH 6.5 and 40 °C. On the other hand, the 'IC' and 'IP' extracts kept their activities in a wide range of pH memory but presented preference for higher reaction temperatures. Preliminary studies of application of the crude lipase extract in the enzymatic production of geranyl propionate using geraniol and propionic acid as substrates in solvent-free system led to a reaction conversion of 42 ± 1.5%.

The main objective of this work was the isolation and screening of microorganisms with potential for producing lipases for the synthesis of fatty esters as well as evaluating the specificity of the enzymes produced, using different alcohols (methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and butanol) and fatty acids (oleic and lauric acids) as substrates. Promising biocatalysts for organic synthesis were obtained in this work. The isolated strains 69F and 161Y showed ability to efficiently catalyze the reaction for production of n-propyl oleate. Other strains can also be considered of potential interest, as 74F, 111Y, and 186Y. The future development of production using different substrates could result in cheap crude lipase of high importance to industrial applicability.

Aims: The objective of this work was to investigate the lipase production by a newly isolated Penicillium sp., using experimental design technique, in submerged fermentation using a medium based on peptone, yeast extract, NaCl and olive oil, as well as to characterize the crude enzymatic extracts obtained., Methods and Results: Lipase activity values of 9.5 U ml(-1) in 96 h of fermentation was obtained at the maximized operational conditions of peptone, yeast extract, NaCl and olive oil concentrations (g l(-1)) of 20.0, 5.0, 5.0 and of 10.0 respectively. The partial characterization of crude enzymatic extract obtained by submerged fermentation showed optimum activity at pH range from 4.9 to 5.5 and temperature from 37 degrees C to 42 degrees C. The crude extract maintained its initial activity at freezing temperatures up to 100 days., Conclusions: A newly isolated strain of Penicillium sp. used in this work yielded good lipase activities compared to the literature., Significance and Impact of the Study: The growing interest in lipase production is related to the potential biotechnological applications that these enzymes present. New lipase producers are relevant to finding enzymes with different catalytic properties of commercial interest could be obtained, without using genetically modified organisms (GMO).