Lipase catalyzed production of monoacylglycerols by the esterification of fish oil fatty acids with glycerol

Predigested Mixture of Arachidonic and Docosahexaenoic Acids for Better Bio-Accessibility

A predigested product from arachidonic acid oil (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) oil in a 2:1 (w/w) ratio has been developed and evaluated in an in vitro digestion model. To produce this predigested lipid mixture, first, the two oils were enzymatically hydrolyzed up to 90% of free fatty acids (FFAs) were achieved. Then, these two fatty acid (FA) mixtures were mixed in a 2:1 ARA-to-DHA ratio (w/w) and enzymatically esterified with glycerol to produce a mixture of FFAs, mono-, di-, and triacylglycerides. Different glycerol ratios and temperatures were evaluated. The best results were attained at 10 °C and a glycerol-to-FA molar ratio of 3:1. The bio-accessibility of this predigested mixture was studied in an in vitro digestion model. A total of 90% of the digestion product was found in the micellar phase, which contained 30% monoacylglycerides, more than 50% FFAs, and a very small amount of triacylglycerols (3% w/w). All these data indicate an excellent bio-accessibility of this predigested mixture.

Biocatalytic Approach for Direct Esterification of Ibuprofen with Sorbitol in Biphasic Media

Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) introduced in the 1960s and widely used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic. In its acid form, the solubility of 21 mg/L greatly limits its bioavailability. Since the bioavailability of a drug product plays a critical role in the design of oral administration dosage, this study investigated the enzymatic esterification of ibuprofen as a strategy for hydrophilization. This work proposes an enzymatic strategy for the covalent attack of highly hydrophilic molecules using acidic functions of commercially available bioactive compounds. The poorly water-soluble drug ibuprofen was esterified in a hexane/water biphasic system by direct esterification with sorbitol using the cheap biocatalyst porcine pancreas lipase (PPL), which demonstrated itself to be a suitable enzyme for the effective production of the IBU-sorbitol ester. This work reports the optimization of the esterification reaction.

Monoacylglycerol of 7,10-Dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic Acid Enhances Antibacterial Activities against Food-Borne Bacteria

Conversion of free fatty acids into monoacylglycerol gives rise to new structural properties, particularly amphipathic property. Therefore, monoacylglycerols are widely used in pharmaceutical and food industries and are also reported to facilitate better absorption into the human body. A functional fatty acid when transformed into a monoacylglycerol will possibly conserve both the original functionality and amphipathic property. The compound 7,10-dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic acid (DOD) was generated from oleic acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PR3 and was known to contain antimicrobial activities against a broad range of food-borne and plant pathogenic bacteria. Here, we attempted to convert DOD into its monoacylglycerol form using lipase for producing an amphipathic antibacterial agent. Consequently, the monoacylglycerol of DOD (DOD-MAG) was successfully produced by coincubating DOD, glycerol, and lipase at 30 °C. The maximum conversion yield reached 70% after 12 h of incubation. Antibacterial activity of DOD-MAG was enhanced by 8 times from the original activity of DOD against food-borne bacteria.

Enzymatic glycerolysis-interesterification of palm stearin-olein blend for synthesis structured lipid containing high mono- and diacylglycerol

The objective of this research was to evaluate enzymatic glycerolysis-interesterification to synthesize structured lipids (SLs) containing high monoacylglycerol (MAG) and diacylglycerol (DAG) from a palm stearin-olein blend (PS-PO blend). The results showed that the optimum conditions for the solvent to fat ratio, glycerol to fat ratio, and enzyme concentration were 2:1 (v/w), 1.5:1, and 15% (w/w), respectively. The conversion rate of MAG and DAG decreased at a high glycerol to fat ratio, low solvent to fat ratio, and high enzyme concentration due to an increase in viscosity and low agitation effectiveness. The emulsion capacity and stability of the SLs were 60.19% and 96.80%, respectively. The hardness of the SLs increased about 3.1-fold. The MAG, DAG, and triacylglycerol conversion rates were 0.45, 0.48, and 1.02%/h, respectively. Thus, glycerolysis-interesterification of a PS-PO blend increased DAG and MAG concentrations and further improved the hardness, emulsion capacity, and emulsion stability of the SLs.

Evaluation of Strategies to Produce Highly Porous Cross-Linked Aggregates of Porcine Pancreas Lipase with Magnetic Properties

The preparation of highly porous magnetic crosslinked aggregates (pm-CLEA) of porcine pancreas lipase (PPL) is reported. Some strategies to improve the volumetric activity of the immobilized biocatalyst were evaluated, such as treatment of PPL with enzyme surface-modifying agents (polyethyleneimine or dodecyl aldehyde), co-aggregation with protein co-feeders (bovine serum albumin and/or soy protein), use of silica magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with amino groups (SMNPs) as separation aid, and starch as pore-making agent. The combination of enzyme surface modification with dodecyl aldehyde, co-aggregation with SMNPs and soy protein, in the presence of 0.8% starch (followed by hydrolysis of the starch with α-amylase), yielded CLEAs expressing high activity (immobilization yield around 100% and recovered activity around 80%), high effectiveness factor (approximately 65% of the equivalent free enzyme activity) and high stability at 40 °C and pH 8.0, i.e., PPL CLEAs co-aggregated with SMNPs/bovine serum albumin or SMNPs/soy protein retained 80% and 50% activity after 10 h incubation, respectively, while free PPL was fully inactivated after 2 h. Besides, highly porous magnetic CLEAs co-aggregated with soy protein and magnetic nanoparticles (pm-SP-CLEAs) showed good performance and reusability in the hydrolysis of tributyrin for five 4h-batches.

Purification process for MUFA- and PUFA-based monoacylglycerols from edible oils

Important health benefits have been attributed to monoacylglycerols (MAGs) due to their various physiological functions, owing to which they become candidates for use as functional foods in order to prevent the onset of certain diseases such as colon cancer. In this work, six edible oils, namely: olive, linseed, sunflower, evening primrose, DHASCO^® and ARASCO^® have been processed to obtain different MUFA- and PUFA- based MAGs. First, the oils were hydrolyzed by means of an enzymatic process using porcine pancreatic lipase and then the reaction products were fractionated by using a liquid chromatography column containing silica gel as stationary phase in order to purify the MAGs-enriched fraction. A second chromatography process was performed using silver nitrate coated silica gel as stationary phase, in order to obtain the different MUFA- and PUFA-based MAGs from the corresponding oils. Overall, MAGs based on oleic, linoleic, α-linolenic, γ-linolenic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids have been isolated in high yields and purities (92.6, 97.4, 95.3, 90.9, 100 and 95.3% purity, respectively). Positional distribution was determined by means of ¹H NMR, which revealed a mix of 1(3) and 2-MAGs in variable proportions in the different MAGs.

Application of Chemoenzymatic Hydrolysis in the Synthesis of 2-Monoacylglycerols

The selective biocatalyzed synthesis of 2-monoacylglycerols (2-MAGs) through the use of commercially available immobilized Candida antarctica (Novozym435) and Rhizomucor miehei is explored. Reactions at room temperature result in the formation of a 2-MAG and a corresponding ethyl ester of the fatty acid with immobilized Candida antarctica within 2h with yields ranging from 36%-83%. Similar reaction conditions with immobilized Rhizomucor miehei yielded exclusively the 2-MAG after 24h with yields ranging from 37% to 88%. Yields vary on the acyl group at the sn-2 position and choice of enzyme involved.