Abstract
The hydrolysis of borage seed oil containing γ-linolenic acid (Δ6, 9, 12-octadecatrienoic acid) was investigated using two kinds of microbial lipases.
The Candida cylindracea lipase easily hydrolized α-linolenate (Δ9, 12, 15-octadecatrienoate) present in linseed oil but not so easily γ-linolenate in borage seed oil. Far example, when borage seed oil was hydrolized by the C. cylindracea lipase, γ-linolenate accumulated in the unhydrolized glyceride residue. This difference for affecting hydrolysis is likely due to the specificity of this lipase toward γ-linolenate containing Δ6 unsaturation. In contrast, using the Chromobacterium viscosum lipase, there was no such accumulation of γ-linolenate. The difference in microbial origin of these lipases may possibly account for these findings.
