A Simple Enzymatic Approach for Selective Acetylation of Phosphatidylethanolamine

Acetylation of lecithin improves the fluid properties, water dispersibility and emulsifying properties of a variety of food formulations. Acetylation of lecithin is usually carried out chemically using acetic anhydride in the presence of tertiary amine. In the present study acetylation of soybean lecithin and egg yolk lecithin was carried out using lipozyme IM 20 having 1,3-specificity from Mucor miehei and vinyl acetate at 70–75 °C. Vinyl acetate played a dual role as acetylating agent and also as the solvent medium. This method selectively acetylated phosphatidylethanolamine without effecting phosphatidylinositol since the enzyme employed was 1,3-specific.