Use of continuous culture to screen for lipase-producing microorganisms and interesterification of butter fat by lipase isolates

Abstract

The continuous cultivation technique was used to investigate the screening for lipase-producing microorganisms from four commercial starters suitable for the degradation of domestic wastes. Using this technique, three strains of lipase-producing bacteria were isolated and identified: Pantoea agglomerons (BB96CC1, BB168CC2) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (BW96CC1). In addition, butter fat induced more lipase production when present in the growth medium. Interesterification of butter fat triacylglycerols by enzymatic extracts of the isolated strains of microorganisms resulted in an appreciable interesterification yield, implying that hydrolysis was suppressed and interesterification of butter fat triacylglycerols was maximized in a microemulsion free-cosurfactant system.Key words: continuous culture, screening, interesterification, lipases, butter fat.