Avaliação de diferentes estratégias de imobilização, caracterização das propriedades catalíticas e determinação dos parâmetros termodinâmicos para a lipase produzida por Geotrichum candidum, visando seu emprego na produção de ácidos graxos concentrados

Abstract

Lipases (triacylglycerol hydrolases E.C. 3.1.1.3) are important biocatalysts, due to their catalytic activity towards several substrates and their chemical, regio as well as stereo selectivity. They acts in the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols in order to produce free fatty acids, and in the inverse reaction (esterification) in non-aqueous mediums. Some lipases produced by Geotrichum candidum (G. candidum) possess selectivity with the hydrolysis of the long-chain unsaturated fatty acid ester bonds, like oleic and linoleic acids that are present in several triacylglycerols. This type of selectivity allows these bonds to be rapidly hydrolyzed, increasing the speed and consequently the efficiency of the vegetable oils hydrolysis. However, the high cost of enzymes is still a limiting factor for their widespread use. Immobilization on solid supports can be a viable alternative to the use of enzymes in industrial processes, allowing its reuse and to improve their stability and/or selectivity. In this context, the present work allowed the evaluation of different immobilization strategies, as well as the characterization of catalytic properties and the determination of thermodynamic parameters of a produced lipase from G. candidum (GCL) via submerged fermentation, in order to produce concentrated fatty acids by the hydrolysis of different vegetable oils (olive, cottonseed and palm kernel). Preliminary assays of free GCL immobilization on hydrophobic supports (octyl-agarose and octyl-silica) showed that they were not able to carry out the enzyme purification from fermentation broth as efficiently as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) via immobilization, due to the impurities in the fermentation broth. GCL produced was purified by precipitation with organic solvent in order to better analyze the immobilization on different types of support and by different immobilization methods, as via physical and ionic adsorption and multipoint covalent attachment. Among these methods, the maximum hydrolytic (45.4 ± 0,2 U/ g of biocatalyst) and the highest percentage of activity recovered (22.8%) were observed for GCL immobilized by ionic adsorption in MANAE-agarose. The catalytic properties of GCL purified and immobilized on MANAE-agarose were evaluated, a greater lipase stability over a broad pH range, and high thermal stability were observed as compared to the free enzyme. Immobilization of GCL on MANAE-agarose decreased the activation energy (Ea) by 50% and increased the amount of product formed during hydrolysis reactions, it was verified by calculating kinetic parameters such as the maximum reaction rate (vmáx) and the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km). The hydrolysis of olive oil by GCL immobilized on MANAE agarose, without the addition of emulsifiers, reached 100% hydrolysis in 120 minutes of reaction, whereas free enzyme reached 95.5% in 140 min. However, reusability tests of the biocatalyst showed that it retained around 50% of its original activity after second cycle, and only 5.5% after third cycle. The obtained results in the hydrolysis of cottonseed and palm kernel oils showed that free GCL expressed a maximum hydrolytic activity at pH 8.0 and temperature of 37 °C, for both used substrates. However, a greater activity was observed for cottonseed than for palm kernel, due the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in cottonseed oil composition (≈ 71%) compared to palm kernel oil composition (≈ 19%).