ABSTRACT
Lipases (triacylglycerol hydrolases E.C. 3.1.1.3) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of triglycerides to glycerol and fatty acids. Lipase was first identified in the pancreas by Eberle in 1834 and Bernard in 1856. Together with amylase and protease, it became one of the three major known digestive enzymes. However, because of its difficulty in handling water-insoluble substrate and heterogeneous reaction system, lipase was rarely in the main stream of research. Plants, animals, and microorganisms produce lipases. Lipases are found in several different animal tissues described as pancreatic, gastric, and pregastric lipases. Earlier investigations were concerned mainly with enzymes that participated in lipid metabolism in animals. The most thoroughly studied was lipase from pancreas. Recently, increasingly more attention is being paid to lipases produced from bacteria and fungi. Microbial lipases are relatively stable and are capable of catalyzing a variety of reactions; they are potentially of importance for diverse industrial applications.
