Integrated process for co-production of alkaline lipase and R-(+)-α-terpineol by Fusarium oxysporum

Abstract

This article complements a series of studies on the strain Fusarium oxysporum 152b describing an extracellular alkaline lipase production and limonene biotransformation. In this study, it was shown that the enzyme responsible for the latter process is enantioselective and enantiospecific for the biotransformation of R-(+)-limonene into R-(+)-α-terpineol, has an intracellular nature and acts in anaerobic conditions. Also, it was demonstrated that the biomass stored in frozen or lyophilised forms could be used for α-terpineol production, where the reaction rate was significantly increased in the first case. Finally, an integrated process for the co-production of lipase and α-terpineol was proposed and, although the maximal α-terpineol concentration (∼2 g l −1) was ∼50% lower than the conventional process (∼4 g l −1), this is an interesting methodology from an industrial point of view and encourages future research in this field.