Kinetic study on the hydrolysis of palm olein using immobilized lipase

The application of immobilized lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) is gaining interest in the oleochemical industry as it offers advantages over conventional chemical reactions. In the present study, a commercial immobilized lipase, Lipozyme TL IM, was used to catalyze the hydrolysis of palm olein in an aqueous-organic phase. A ping-pong bi-bi model with substrate inhibition by water was used to describe the hydrolysis reaction. The reaction rate constants of the proposed mechanism were determined by fitting the model into experimental data using a nonlinear curve fitting software. Based on the results of this study, the model proposed was able to fit the data with a correlation coefficient of 0.9586. The rate of formation of fatty acids is limited by the formation of glycerol. The critical water content before inhibition occurs was found to be 3.6% (v/v). No inhibition by palm olein was observed up to a concentration of 874.76 g/l.