Plant lipid industrial application

Lipases are hydrolytic enzymes that have received extensive attention in food, pulp and paper and fuels industries. They can be found in microorganisms, plants, and animals with ability to breakdown of lipids. In this chapter, lipases are introduced and there is a brief discussion about their functions. This is followed by a short description of their main sources, structure, and features with an emphasis on their specificity and interfacial activity. The chapter focuses on microbial lipases, which are usually preferred for commercial applications due to their favorable properties, easy extraction, and unlimited supply. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the various industrial applications of lipases and properties improvement. 

Plants represent a very important role in human nutrition, due to the large quantities of proteins, carbon hydrates, lipids, vitamins, antioxidants and mineral salts that its can supply. Sometimes the nutritional aspect can be associated with the flavour and fragrance of the extracts producing a high value products. In recent years one can observe an increase in research for natural sources, in particular from plant matrices, of additives with application in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. 

The low polarity of carbon dioxide appears as a limitation to its use in extraction technologies requiring a total lipid extract, because more polar lipids cannot be extracted. Many of the extraction protocols used for these applications rely on a modified solvent system based on the addition of small volumes of a polar organic solvent (methanol or ethanol) to the extraction system. Such application for the extraction of lipids in the food industry is widespread, particularly with plant-based oils. However, the potential problems with the extraction of total lipids by SF has also yielded specific applications in the selective extraction or concentration of lipid components. Examples exist of the separation of FA from triacylglycerols (TAG) and squalene from sterols. 

Although production of yeast lipids as a source of triacylglycerol oils is limited to oleaginous species (Table 9.2), there are several other potentially useful lipid types produced by yeasts. These, however, do not represent alternatives to plant seed oils but are mainly for technical applications within the oleochemical industry. As this area is strictly outside the scope of this book, these alternative yeast lipids are described only briefly. 

---