Immobilization of lipases in hydrophobic chitosan for selective hydrolysis of fish oil: The impact of support functionalization on lipase activity, selectivity and stability

The objective of this paper was to carry out an integral study of the use of hydrophobic chitosan as a low-cost support for immobilizing lipases and their further application in the selective hydrolysis of fish oil. Chitosan functionalized with different alkyl chains (C4, C8, C12) were characterized by FTIR, TGA, SEM, and Rose Bengal adsorption. Lipase B from Candida antarctica (CalB) and lipase from Rhizomucor miehei (RML) were immobilized obtaining a higher expressed activity at a longer alkyl chain length of support. Biocatalyst thermal stability showed that the impact of the alkyl chain length on enzyme stabilization varied according to the lipase source. The biocatalysts were applied in menhaden oil hydrolysis. Total polyunsaturated fatty acids released after 30 h of reaction with lipases immobilized in butyl, octyl and dodecyl-chitosan was 60, 107, and 90 mM for CalB biocatalysts, and 560, 392, and 50 mM for RML biocatalysts, respectively. Selectivity of CalB was not affected by the alkyl chain, while in the case of RML, a higher selectivity to cis-4,7,10,13,16,19-docohexaenoic acid release was obtained with dodecyl-chitosan. In conclusion, the adequate functionalization of chitosan varied according to lipase source, affecting their activity, stability and performance in the hydrolysis of fish oil.