Synthesis of structured triglycerides from peanut oil with immobilized lipase

Structured triglycerides (ST) that contain medium- and long-chain fatty acids were synthesized by lipase-catalyzed interesterification between tricaprylin and peanut oil. To select appropriate enzymes, we investigated nine commercial lipase preparations for their ability to hydrolyze pure triglycerides as well as natural oils. Three microbial lipases from Rhizomucor miehei (RML), Candida sp. (CSL), and Chromobacterium viscosum (CVL) gave good results, and immobilized preparations were used in the interesterification. RML gave the highest yields of ST (73%, 40°C), although its hydrolytic activity toward triolein was low. As the temperature was raised to 50°C, the yield of ST increased to 79%. After 120 h reaction time, remaining activities were high for CSL (71%), moderate for CVL (48%), and low for RML (20%). Parts of this paper were presented as a poster at the Biochemical Engineering Conference IX, May 1995, Davos, Switzerland.