ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on microbial lipases, which are usually preferred for commercial applications due to their favorable properties, easy extraction, and unlimited supply. It deals with a discussion on the various industrial applications of lipases and properties improvement. Lipases are hydrolytic enzymes that have received extensive attention in food, pulp and paper and fuels industries. Lipases are water-soluble enzymes that naturally catalyze the hydrolysis of oils and fats, insoluble substrates, acting at the oil–water interface. Lipases can be extracted from microbial organisms, plants, or animals. Lipases from several mammalian species have been investigated, and pancreatic lipases were studied in more detail. Lipases have several attractive properties that make them suitable for several applications. Lipases are mainly produced by both submerged and solid state fermentation and most of them are of the extracellular type, which facilitates the purification processes. The major commercial application of lipases is in detergents for household uses, laundry, and dishwashers.
