Medline/PubMed Citation | Related Articles in PubMed | Download to Citation Manager

Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry (1999) 29, (119–131) (Printed in Great Britain)

PDF

Legacy HTML

Review

The realm of microbial lipases in biotechnology

Ashok Pandey *¹, Sailas Benjamin†², Carlos R. Soccol*, Poonam Nigam‡, Nadia Krieger* and Vanete T. Soccol§

*Laboratorio de Processos Biotecnologicos, Departamento Engenharia Quimica, Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), CEP 81531-970 Curitiba-PR, Brazil, †Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum-695 019, India, ‡Biotechnology Group, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, N. Ireland, U.K., and §Departamento de Patologia Básica, UFPR, CEP 81531-970, Curitiba-PR , Brazil

---

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

² Present address: Biotechnology Department, Christian College, Kattakada, Trivandrum, India.

In this review, a comprehensive and illustrious survey is made of the applied aspects of microbial lipases in modern biotechnological practices. Lipases are the most versatile biocatalyst and bring about a range of bioconversion reactions such as hydrolysis, interesterification, esterification, alcoholysis, acidolysis and aminolysis. After a brief description of the microbial sources of lipases, the pivotal role of lipases in the processes and products of the food and flavourings industry is illustrated. An illustration is presented of biomedical applications. The panorama of lipases in the manufacture of fine chemicals is depicted with special emphasis on pharmaceuticals, pesticides, cosmetics, biosensors and detergents. Widening applications such as those in waste management and improved tanning techniques are other novel aspects of lipase utilization that are discussed in this review.

Portland Press Ltd © 1999