Dejan Bezbradica

Enzymatic conversion of sunflower oil to biodiesel in a solvent-free system: process optimization and the immobilized system stability.

The feasibility of using the commercial immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (Novozyme 435) to synthesize biodiesel from sunflower oil in a solvent-free system has been proved. Using methanol as an acyl acceptor and the response surface methodology as an optimization technique, the optimal conditions for the transesterification has been found to be: 45 degrees C, 3% of enzyme based on oil weight, 3:1 methanol to oil molar ratio and with no added water in the system. Under these conditions, >99% of oil conversion to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) has been achieved after 50 h of reaction, but the activity of the immobilized lipase decreased markedly over the course of repeated runs. In order to improve the enzyme stability, several alternative acyl acceptors have been tested for biodiesel production under solvent-free conditions. The use of methyl acetate seems to be of great interest, resulting in high FAME yield (95.65%) and increasing the half-life of the immobilized lipase by about 20.1 times as compared to methanol. The reaction has also been verified in the industrially feasible reaction system including both a batch stirred tank reactor and a packed bed reactor. Although satisfactory performance in the batch stirred tank reactor has been achieved, the kinetics in a packed bed reactor system seems to have a slightly better profile (93.6+/-3.75% FAME yield after 8-10 h), corresponding to the volumetric productivity of 48.5 g/(dm(3) h). The packed bed reactor has operated for up to 72 h with almost no loss in productivity, implying that the proposed process and the immobilized system could provide a promising solution for the biodiesel synthesis at the industrial scale.

Production of lipase and protease from an indigenous Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain and their evaluation as detergent additives: Compatibility study with detergent ingredients and washing performance

An indigenous Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain has been studied for lipase and protease activities for their potential application in detergents. Produced enzymes were investigated in order to assess their compatibility with several surfactants, oxidizing agents and commercial detergents. The crude lipase appeared to retain high activity and stability in the presence of several surfactants and oxidizing agents and it was insusceptible to proteolysis. Lutensol® XP80 and Triton® X-100 strongly activated the lipase for a long period (up to 40 and 30% against the control after 1h) while the protease activity was enhanced by the addition of Triton® WR1339 and Tween® 80. The washing performance of the investigated surfactants was significantly improved with the addition of the crude enzyme preparation. Studies were further undertaken to improve enzymes production. The optimization of fermentation conditions led to an 8-fold increase of lipase production, while the production of protease was enhanced by 60%.

Immobilization of lipase from Candida rugosa on Sepabeads®: the effect of lipase oxidation by periodates

The objective of this paper was the investigation of a suitable Sepabeads® support and method for immobilization of lipase from Candida rugosa. Three different supports were used, two with amino groups, (Sepabeads® EC-EA and Sepabeads® EC-HA), differing in spacer length (two and six carbons, respectively) and one with epoxy group (Sepabeads® EC-EP). Lipase immobilization was carried out by two conventional methods (via epoxy groups and via glutaraldehyde), and with periodate method for modification of lipase. The results of activity assays showed that lipase retained 94.8% or 87.6% of activity after immobilization via epoxy groups or with periodate method, respectively, while glutaraldehyde method was inferior with only 12.7% of retention. The immobilization of lipase, previously modified by periodate oxidation, via amino groups has proven to be more efficient than direct immobilization of lipase via epoxy groups. In such a way immobilized enzyme exhibited higher activity at high reaction temperatures and higher thermal stability.

Biodiesel Fuel Production by Enzymatic Transesterification of Oils: Recent Trends, Challenges and Future Perspectives

Liquid fuels have been used for many years as the most dominant and basic fuel for motor engines. However, declining fossil fuel resources as well as the tendency for developing new renewable biofuels have shifted the interest of the society towards finding novel alternative fuel sources. Biodiesel (monoalkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids) has a great potential as an alternative diesel fuel. From an environmental point of view it shows clear advantages over conventional fuel: it comes from renewable sources, and hence does not contribute to new carbon dioxide emission, it is biodegradable, its combustion products have reduced levels of particulates, sulphur oxides, carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, and therefore, significantly reduces pollution (Al-Zuhair, 2007; Salis et al., 2005). One of the advantages of biodiesel in comparison to other biofuels is that biodiesel can be pumped, stored and handled using the same infrastructure employed for conventional diesel fuel (Robles-Medina et al., 2009). Also, major advantage of biodiesel as an alternative fuel is that its energy content is similar to conventional fuels, so it can be used either on its own or mixed with conventional diesel fuel, with no need of altering existing engines (Bozbas, 2005). European countries have recognized need for alternative fuels and issued the Directive on the Promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport (2003/30/EC). The Directive stipulates that EU countries should replace 5.75% of fossil fuels with alternative, biofuels until 31. December 2010. This Directive has been amended by Directive 2009/28/EC which also promotes the usage of energy from renewable sources (aims at achieving a 20% share of energy from renewable sources in the EU’s final consumption of energy by 2020). In 2005, the estimated world production of biodiesel was 2.92 million tones of which 87% was obtained in EU. More importantly, between 2000 and 2005 world production increased threefold, indicating that share of biodiesel in global fuel production will significantly increase in future (Mousdale, 2008). There are several possible processes for biodiesel synthesis: pyrolysis, the use of microemulsions and transesterification. Though pyrolysis, due to reduced viscosity, gives good quality fuel it still produces more biogasoline than biodiesel fuel. Fuel produced by microemulsion creates engine performance problems (Fukuda et al., 2001; Ma and Hanna, 1999). Conventionally, biodiesel is produced by transesterification of triacylglycerol (TAG) and short chain alcohols, commonly methanol, in the presence of an acid or an alkaline

Microencapsulation in the textile industry

The application of microencapsulation techniques offers the possibility of producing novel products with many advantages compared to traditional textile products. The microcapsules can introduce important new qualities to garments and fabrics, such as enhanced stability and the controlled release of active compound(s). Although microencapsulation has found application in other business sectors during the last few decades (food, cosmetics Pharmaceuticals), a significant number of microcapsule-based commercial products appeared in the textile industry during the 1990s, while many potential new products are still in the research and development stage. The most attractive examples are fabrics with durable fragrances, T-shirts with UV-ray absorbing microcapsules, T-shirts with thermo-changeable dyes military uniforms with microencapsulated insecticide, thermo-regulation vehicle seats, ski suits, and gloves. In spite of important success in developing new products, there is a lot of space for further research especially in order to improve the mechanical strength of the obtained microcapsules and the kinetics and the mechanism of the release of active compound(s). Therefore, numerous research has focused on the development of new methods of applying of microcapsules on textile, new immobilization techniques and materials, are underway.

One-step, inexpensive high yield strategy for Candida antarctica lipase A isolation using hydroxyapatite

Lipase A from Candida antarctica (CAL A) was purified to apparent homogeneity in a single step using hydroxyapatite (HAP) chromatography. CAL A bound to HAP was eluted with 10mM Na-phosphate buffer, pH 7.0 containing 0.5% Triton X-100. The protocol resulted in a 3.74-fold purification with 94.7% final recovery and 400.83 U/mg specific activity. Silver staining after SDS-PAGE revealed the presence a single band of 45 kDa. The enzyme exhibited a temperature optimum of 60°C, was unaffected by monovalent metal ions, but was destabilized by divalent metal ions (Zn(2+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Cu(2+), Mn(2+)) and stimulated by 50mM Fe(2+). Detergents at 0.1% concentrations did not affect lipase activity. Except for Triton X-100, detergent concentrations of 1% had a destabilizing effect.

Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oil of Satureja montana L. Collected in Serbia and Montenegro

Abstract The chemical composition of the essential oil of Satureja montana L. subsp. montana (Lamiaceae), obtained from the air-dried plant material by hydrodistillation, was analyzed using GC and GC/MS. The major components were thymol (33.4%) and p-cymene (28.8%). The essential oil was tested against five bacterial species by the agar well diffusion technique. All of the bacteria are potential skin contaminants. The oil and its 5% solution in ethanol showed antimicrobial activity against all of the tested bacteria. The most susceptible organisms were Corynebacterium sp., while the most resistant organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Structural Elucidation of Enzymatically Synthesized Galacto-oligosaccharides Using Ion-Mobility Spectrometry–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) represent a diverse group of well-characterized prebiotic ingredients derived from lactose in a reaction catalyzed with β-galactosidases. Enzymatic transgalactosylation results in a mixture of compounds of various degrees of polymerization and types of linkages. Because structure plays an important role in terms of prebiotic activity, it is of crucial importance to provide an insight into the mechanism of transgalactosylation reaction and occurrence of different types of β-linkages during GOS synthesis. Our study proved that a novel one-step method, based on ion-mobility spectrometry-tandem mass spectrometry (IMS-MS/MS), enables complete elucidation of GOS structure. It has been shown that β-galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae has the highest affinity toward formation of β-(1→3) or β-(1→6) linkages. Additionally, it was observed that the occurrence of different linkages varies during the reaction course, indicating that tailoring favorable GOS structures with improved prebiotic activity can be achieved by adequate control of enzymatic synthesis.

The immobilization of enzyme on Eupergit® supports by covalent attachment.

A selection of the best combination of adequate immobilization support and efficient immobilization method is still a key requirement for successful application of immobilized enzymes on the industrial level. Eupergit) supports exhibit good mechanical and chemical properties and allow establishment of satisfactory hydrodynamic regime in enzyme reactors. This is a good recommendation for their wide application in enzyme immobilization after finding the most favorable immobilization method. Methods for enzyme immobilization that have been previously reported as efficient, considering the obtained activity of immobilized enzyme are presented: direct binding to polymers via their epoxy groups, binding to polymers via a spacer made from ethylene diamine/glutaraldehyde, and coupling the periodate-oxidized sugar moieties of the enzymes to the polymer beads.

Reactivation of a thermostable lipase by solid phase unfolding/refolding: Effect of cysteine residues on refolding efficiency

Lipase from Geobacillus thermocatenulatus (BTL2) was immobilized in two different matrixes. In one derivative, the enzyme was immobilized on agarose activated with cyanogen bromide (CNBr-BTL2) via its most reactive superficial amino group, whereas the other derivative was covalently immobilized on glyoxyl agarose supports (Gx-BTL2). The latter immobilization protocol leads to intense multipoint covalent attachment between the lysine richest region of enzyme and the glyoxyl groups on the support surface. The resulted solid derivatives were unfolded by incubation under high concentrations of guanidine and then resuspended in aqueous media under different experimental conditions. In both CNBr-BTL2 and Gx-BTL2 derivatives, the oxidation of Cys residues during the unfolding/refolding processes led to inefficient folding for the enzyme because only 25-30% of its initial activity was recovered after 3h in refolding conditions. Dithiothreitol (DTT), a very mild reducing agent, prevented Cys oxidation during the unfolding/refolding process, greatly improving activity recovery in the refolded forms. In parallel, other variables such as pH, buffer composition and the presence of polymers and other additives, had different effects on refolding efficiencies and refolding rates for both derivatives. In the case of solid derivatives of BTL2 immobilized on CNBr-agarose, the surfaces chemistry was crucial to guarantee an optimal protein refolding. In this way, uncharged protein vicinities resulted in better refolding efficiencies than those charged ones.