CONTINUOUS INTERESTERIFICATION OF OILS AND FATS USING DRIED FUNGUS IMMOBILIZED IN BIOMASS SUPPORT PARTICLES

The industrial feasibility of an interesterification process using acetone-dried fungus (as a lipase catalyst) immobilized in biomass support particles (BSPs) was examined by continuous interesterification between olive oil and methyl stearate, where the water content of the reaction mixture (C(w)) was controlled at a given value. The C(w) affected not only the inactivation rate of lipase in the cells but also the production rate of the byproduct (diglycerides). The optimal C(w) was determined as about 100 ppm. The half-life of lipase in the cells was about 1200 h at the optimal C(w), suggesting that the interesterification process using the immobilized fungus is industrially feasible.