Production, Partial Purification, and Characterization of Lipase from <i>Aspergillus niger</i> and Its Application in Treatment of Vegetable Oil Effluent

Abstract

Vegetable oil factories generate considerable quantity of waste. The wastewater from the production process causes severe environmental pollution. Although, several conventional and biological treatment methods have been tested, the outcomes are usually fraught with significant draw backs. The enzymatic method was employed in the present study due to their many beneficial attributes. Lipase was produced by submerged fermentation using the effluent as a sole source of carbon. Upon partial purification, a 3-fold increase in lipase activity was obtained. The enzyme reacted optimally at 50°C, pH of 6.0 and substrate concentration of 7mg/ml. The crude ezyme displayed identical characteristics with the partially purified one. The crude and partially purified lipase were used to treat the wastwater separately. From the results, crude lipase liberated higher fatty acids (1.0591%) from the vegetable oil effluent than the partially purified lipase (0.6066%) did. Kinetic parameters of the enzyme indicate a K_m value of 8 mg/ml and V_max value of 344.83 μmol/min. The results of this study could be applied for the purpose of formulating appropriate policy directives that will aid clean-up of pollution from vegetable oil factories. In addition, vegetable wastewaters can be used as substrates for the production of lipases which could be processed for industiral and biotechnological applications.