Silica hydrogel prepared by synthetic peptides –part 2–; Encapsulation of enzyme inside the gel and its catalytic activity

Abstract

Sol-gel encapsulation has been proven to be an efficient method to stabilize the catalytic activity of enzyme for a long period. Lipase encapsulated in the silica gel prepared by standing at room temp. retained 55% of the activity compared to the free solution enzyme. In contrast, those by mixing at RT and standing at 4oC were significantly decreased their activities. These results indicate that enzyme activity encapsulated in the silica gel is greatly affected by the conditions for the sol-gel reactions.