Synthesis of medium chain glycerides from caprylic acid and glycerol using lipase from Candida rugosa
M. Basril1*, N. Ngah1, M.B. Abd. Rahman1, R.N.Z. Abd. Rahman2, C. N. A. Razak 2,
and A. B. Salleh2
1Jabatan Kimia, 2Jabatan Biokimia dan Mikrobiologi, Fakulti Sains & Pengajian Alam Sekitar Universiti
Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia.
(Received 12 December 2000 / Accepted 10 April 2001)
Abstract.
Enzymatic synthesis of medium chain glycerides (MCG) from caprylic acid and glycerol was studied using lipase from Candida rugosa. The effects of various reaction parameters such as time course, type of organic solvents, molar ratio of substrates (mmol glycerol/mmol capric acid), amount of enzyme, and initial water activity (aw) were studied. The best condition tested for MCG synthesis at 37oC were respectively, at time, 24 h: molar ratio of substrates, 0.4 and amount of enzyme, 100.0 mg. Generally, the activity of lipase was high in non polar solvents with log P values from 3.60 to 5.60. The enzymatic synthesis of MCG was preferably carried out at an initial aw of 0.328, which resulted in maximum yield. Analysis of the products of reaction using gas chromatography showed that lipase from Candida rugosa seemed to produce only dicaprylin and tricaprylin.
Keywords: medium chain glycerides, lipase, esterification, solvents, water activity
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