Production of microbial lipases for the study of triglyceride structure

Abstract

Abstract Lipases from different microorganisms are known to differ in their site of attack on triglycerides, and recent evidence has indicated that they may be useful in studying triglyceride structure. This paper is concerned with the most recent developments in the production, recovery, and stability of lipases from three of these microorganisms. The lipase from Staphylococcus aureus , which attacks both the 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐positions of triglycerides, is produced in an aerated, tryptic digest of casein at 30C in 1舑2 days. The lipase from Geotrichum candidum , which attacks primarily unsaturated fatty acid linkages and shows some stereospecificity, is produced in a static culture grown on a mineral salts‐glucoseprotein hydrolysate medium incubated at 20C for 4舑5 days. An improved method is described for preparing lyophilized preparations of these, and the Pseudomonas fragi lipase, which are quite stable when stored in a refrigerator.