Novelty of Penicillium camembertii Lipase Supported on Glutaraldehyde Activated-SBA-15 Mesoporous Silica for Mono-Esterification of Bioglycerol in Non-Aqueous Media

Hexagonal mesoporous type silica SBA-15 with pore sizes in the range 5.0-8.3 nm was synthesized using non-ionic triblock copolymer and characterized by Accelerated Surface Area Porosimetry (ASAP), FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Different lipases were immobilized in glutaraldehyde activated mesoporous SBA-15 support. The resulting supported enzymes were shown to be active and stable catalysts for esterification of glycerol with oleic acid to produce monoglyceride (MG) which is commonly used in food industry. Various parameters were studied systematically to study kinetics. MG Synthesis using enzymatic process is an environmentally friendly approach. Enzyme immobilized on SBA-15 showed the best stability and catalytic activity in organic solvents. Out of various lipases studied penicillium camembertii (Lipase G) produced MG efficiently at low temperature. Reusability was studied on immobilized enzymes. Immobilized lipase maintained 90% of its esterification activity in non-aqueous media even after 4 cycles of use. The selectivity of Lipase G is found to be 98% for monoacylglyceride.