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Published on: July 4, 2017
Enzyme encapsulation in magnetic chitosan-Fe3O4 microparticles
Tales Alexandre Costa-Silva1, Polyana Samorano Marques, Cláudia Regina Fernandes Souza
1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Processes (LAPROFAR), University of São Paulo , Ribeirão Preto , Brazil.
Magnetic chitosan microparticles effectively immobilize lipase for enhanced enzyme activity and stability. Cross-linking Fe3O4-chitosan powders demonstrated superior lipase retention and storage stability, proving their value in enzyme immobilization applications.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Materials Science
- Enzyme Engineering
Background:
- Enzyme immobilization is crucial for industrial applications, enhancing stability and reusability.
- Chitosan and magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) offer promising biocompatible and recoverable supports.
- Developing efficient magnetic chitosan-based enzyme carriers is an active area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate two methods for preparing magnetic chitosan enzyme microparticles.
- To immobilize Cercospora kikuchii lipase onto Fe3O4-chitosan microparticles.
- To evaluate the activity, stability, and reusability of the immobilized lipase.
Main Methods:
- Preparation of magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan microparticles via cross-linking and spray drying.
- Immobilization of lipase from endophytic fungus Cercospora kikuchii.
- Assessment of enzyme activity retention, storage stability, and performance over reuse cycles.
Main Results:
- Both methods yielded immobilized lipase with high activity retention and storage stability.
- Glutaraldehyde-cross-linked Fe3O4-chitosan powders showed superior lipase activity retention and storage stability.
- Cross-linked immobilized derivatives exhibited higher enzyme activity after multiple reuse cycles compared to other preparations.
- Immobilized lipase demonstrated improved properties compared to the free enzyme form.
Conclusions:
- Magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan microparticles are effective supports for enzyme immobilization.
- The cross-linking method using glutaraldehyde offers enhanced lipase activity retention and stability.
- Immobilized lipase via magnetic Fe3O4-chitosan microparticles presents a viable alternative to the free enzyme.

