Lipase Reaction Engineering for Utilizing Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Abstract

High FFA rice bran oil was continuously converted to an oil containing more than 74 % of triacylglycerol (TG) by immobilized lipase. The synthesis with evaporation by heating was not suitable because of the increasing peroxide value of the oil. The process can be industrialized if the enzyme cost is reduced less than 510 % the value added by the synthesis. More than 95 % of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) or ethyl ester of the fatty acid such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was converted to TG. Continuous lipolysis system is constructed consisting of a loop connecting a fixed-bed reactor containing immobilized lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens biotype I and an oil-water separator. The feasibility of PUFA production was discussed by using the lipolysis reactor.