Abstract
This study aimed to develop an optimal continuous process for lipase immobilization in a bed reactor in order to investigate the possibility of large-scale production. An extracellular lipase of Pseudozyma hubeiensis (strain HB85A) was immobilized by adsorption onto a polystyrene-divinylbenzene support. Furthermore, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize enzyme immobilization and evaluate the optimum temperature and pH for free and immobilized enzyme. The optimal immobilization conditions observed were 150 min incubation time, pH 4.76, and an enzyme/support ratio of 1282 U/g support. Optimal activity temperature for free and immobilized enzyme was found to be 68°C and 52°C, respectively. Optimal activity pH for free and immobilized lipase was pH 4.6 and 6.0, respectively. Lipase immobilization resulted in improved enzyme stability in the presence of nonionic detergents, at high temperatures, at acidic and neutral pH, and at high concentrations of organic solvents such as 2-propanol, methanol, and acetone.