ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how a process comprising lipase-catalyzed reactions and distillation is effective for large-scale purifications of unstable fatty acids (FA) and of oil- and fat related compounds. Lipases have FA specificity, alcohol specificity, positional specificity, (TAG) triacylglycerol specificity, and acylglycerol specificity. Diacylglycerol and TAG containing medium- and long-chain FA were produced recently through lipase-catalyzed esterification and interesterification. Selective reactions with lipases are also effective for the purification of oil- and fat-related compounds. Distillation, organic solvent fractionation, and various kinds of chromatography were adopted industrially for purification of useful materials. There are only a few reports on the purification of useful compounds using lipase reactions. A relatively straightforward purification can be achieved by taking advantage of the substrate selectivity of lipases, and by converting contaminants or a desired compound to different molecular forms. The lipase-catalyzed reactions could be powerful tools for purification of the small amounts of useful materials that are present in the unused biomass.
