PRODUCTION AND IN-SITU SEPARATION OF MONOACYLGLYCEROL OR DIACYLGLYCEROL CATALYZED BY LIPASES IN N-HEXANE

For the lipase-catalyzed production of mono- or dipalmitoylglycerol in n-hexane, various inert solid supports were directly added to the reaction system, resulting in an increase in the equilibrium conversion and the interfacial area between glycerol and palmitate in n-hexane. Among the solid supports rested, silica gel was found to be most suitable. However, high yields of mono- or dipalmitoylglycerol were very difficult in the batch system because mono-, di-, and tripalmitoylglycerol were also impartially produced. To overcome this problem, in situ accumulation of the desired acylglycerol was performed by using the different solubilities of the products in n-hexane. Furthermore, we were able to tailor the production of the desired acylglycerol by using the different specificities of the various lipase sources. The yield of mono- or dipalmitoylglycerol was greatly influenced by the reaction temperature and molar ratio of palmitate to glycerol. We obtained 60 wt% mono- or dipalmitoyl-glycerol yield at 25 degrees C with the molar ratio of 5:10 (palmitate to glycerol). Lipase from Mucor miehei (Lipozyme) and Pseudomonas fluorescens was able To produce dipalmitoylglycerol, whereas lipase from Rhizopus delemar showed its specificity for producing monopalmitoylglycerol in these reaction conditions.