SPIL: Simultaneous production and immobilization of lipase from Burkholderia cepacia LTEB11

We describe a method that we have called SPIL, the 'simultaneous production and immobilization of lipases'. In this method the lipase of Burkholderia cepacia LTEB11 was immobilized by addition of Accurel EP 100 to the growth medium during culture. A factorially designed experiment was undertaken to optimize the activity adsorbed on the support, with variables being the time of addition of Accurel (0-24 h), the concentration of Accurel (10-30 g L-1) and the concentration of olive oil (0.25-1.0%, v/v). The highest activity loading, of 2600 units of p-nitrophenyl palmitate-hydrolyzing activity per gram of support, was obtained by the addition of 10 g Accurel L-1 at 12 h to a medium containing 1% (v/v) olive oil. This preparation gave threefold higher rates for the esterification of ethyl oleate in n-heptane than did a preparation obtained through the conventional practice of adding Accurel at the end of the fermentation, with a conversion of 95% being attained in 1 h.