IMMOBILIZATION OF LIPASE IN K-CARRAGEENAN BY ENCAPSULATION - AN ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY APPROACH

The objective of this work was to immobilize lipase enzyme in a natural polymer matrix forming a liquid core capsule. The immobilization was done by encapsulation method using a coaxial needle with lipase enzyme solution as inner core solution and κ-carrageenan solution as outer core solution. Both the solutions were dropped by extrusion through the coaxial needle in a carrier stream (palm oil) followed by hardening. The microscopic picture of the encapsulated lipase shows the lipase core enzyme confined in the middle surrounded by the polymer membrane. The encapsulated lipase in κ-carrageenan was spherical in shape with an average diameter of 1.6 mm and 5% coefficient of variance. The activity studies revealed that the immobilized enzyme was stable at pH range 5-9 and temperature range of 25-45 o C. The encapsulated lipase shows good operational and reusable properties. The immobilized lipase enzyme can be a potential heterogeneous catalyst for various hydrolysis and esterification reactions. The encapsulation of lipase in a natural polymer makes the immobilization process environmental friendly.