Abstract
Two microbial lipases from Geotrichum spp and Rhizopus spp isolated previously in this laboratory and a commercial lipase from Candida cylindracea were evaluated as biocatalysts for the enrichment of gamma‐linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3 n‐6) from a fungal oil derived from Mucor spp. Lipase from Geotrichum spp, as compared to lipases from Candida cylindracea and Rhizopus spp was found to be most effective in the enrichment of GLA in unesterified fatty acids upon esterification of the fungal oil fatty acids with n‐butanol. The level of GLA in the unesterified fatty acid could be raised from 10.9 % in the starting material to about 30 % in the unesterified fatty acids after a reaction period of 4 h. Selective hydrolysis of the fungal oil using lipase from Rhizopus spp resulted in about 1.5‐fold enrichment of gamma‐linolenic acid in the unhydrolysed acylglycerols. The other Upases tested were ineffective in the enrichment of GLA by selective hydrolysis of the fungal oil triacylglycerols.
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