lyzed byC. rugosalipase, leads to enrichment of totalcis-5-polyunsaturated fatty
acids in the acylglycerols to 41 % (Lie Ken Jie and Syed Rahmatullah, 1995). It
appears from these results and those reported by Hayes and Kleiman (1992a,b)
that fatty acids or acyl moieties having acis-5 double bond are also discriminated
against by some lipases.
Butter oil has been enriched with conjugated linoleic acids to an extent of 15 % by
interesterification of the triacylglycerols with conjugated linoleic acids, catalyzed by
lipase fromC. antarctica(Garcia et al., 1998).
2.3 Perspectives
A wide variety of applications of lipase-catalyzed reactions for the enrichment of
particular fatty acids or lipids via kinetic resolution utilizing the fatty acid specifi-
city and regioselectivity of lipases has become known in recent years. Fatty acid
concentrates containing well over 70 % to 80 % of one particular fatty acid can
be easily prepared in the laboratory and pilot plant scale by low energy-consuming
processes. Further enrichment of such fatty acid concentrates can be carried out by
repeated kinetic resolutions. Several commercial applications of such processes, e.g.,
production of n-3 fatty acid concentrates from marine oils, have become known.
Further commercial applications will probably be governed by the cost and reus-
ability of lipases, economy of downstream processing, and the market value of
the product. One potential market for fatty acid concentrates, prepared enzymati-
cally, is the area of nutraceuticals and cosmetics. In particular, the fatty acid con-
centrates can be used for the preparation of structured lipids using lipase-catalyzed
esterification and interesterification.
2.4 References
Adachi, S., Okumura, K., Ota, Y., Mankura, M. (1993), Acidolysis of sardine oil by lipase to concentrate
eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in glycerides,J. Ferment. Bioeng. 75 , 259–264.
Arai, M., Fukuda, H., Morikawa, H. (1987), Selective separation ofc-linolenic acid ethyl ester using Y-
zeolite,J. Ferment. Technol. 65 , 569–574.
Baillargeon, M.W., Sonnet, P.F. (1991), Selective lipid hydrolysis byGeotrichum candidumNRRLY-553
lipase,Biotechnol. Lett. 13 , 871–874.
Bech Pedersen, S., Holmer, G. (1995), Studies of the fatty acid specificity of the lipase fromRhizomucor
mieheitoward 20 : 1n-9, 20 : 5n-3, 22 : 1n-9 and 22 : 6n-3,J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 72 , 239–243.
Borgdorf, R., Warwel, S. (1999), Substrate selectivity of various lipases in the esterification ofcis- and
trans-octadecenoic acid,Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 51 , 480–485.
Bottino, N.R., Vandenburg, G.A., Reiser, R. (1967), Resistance of certain long-chain polyunsaturated fatty
acids of marine oils to pancreatic lipase hydrolysis,Lipids 2 , 489–493.
Breivik, H., Haraldsson, G.G., Kristinsson, B. (1997), Preparation of highly purified concentrates of
eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid,J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 74 , 1425–1429.
Briand, D., Dubreucq, E., Grimaud, J., Galzy, P. (1995), Substrate specificity of the lipase fromCandida
papapsilosis,Lipids 30 , 747–754.
Carvalho, P.O., Pastore, G.M. (1998), Enrichment ofc-linolenic acid from fungal oil by lipases,Food
Biotechnol. 12 , 57–71.