Enzymatic Synthesis and Characterization of MLM-type Structured Lipid Using Grapeseed Oil and Capric Acid

The objectives were to optimize the reaction conditions for C10:0 incorporation into grapeseed (GS) oil, characterize the structured lipid (SL) product, and study the changes in antioxidant activity of the SL. Taguchi method was used to optimize C10:0 incorporation by combining parameters in a total of 9 experiments. Lipozyme ^® RM IM (Rhizomucor miehei immobilized lipase) and Lipozyme ^® 435 (Candida antarctica recombinant immobilized lipase) were used as biocatalysts for the acidolysis reactions. C10:0 incorporation and triacylglycerol (TAG) species of the SL were analyzed to determine optimal conditions and enzyme type that gave higher incorporation. The optimal conditions were the same for both enzymes as follows: substrate molar ratio 1:3 (GS oil: C10:0), enzyme load 5% (w/w) of substrates, temperature 65℃, and time 12 h. HPLC analysis of SL gave MLM-type TAG species of 11.51±0.11 mol% and 12.68±0.34 mol% for Lipozyme ^® RM IM and Lipozyme ^® 435, respectively. GC analysis indicated that C10:0 incorporated at the sn-1,3 positions of the SL were 46.03±0.55 mol% and 47.28±1.22 mol%, respectively, for Lipozyme ^® RM IM and Lipozyme ^® 435. However, the total C10:0 incorporated into TAG species with Lipozyme ^® RM IM was significantly higher (60.08±0.04 mol%) compared to 50.78±0.44 mol% for Lipozyme ^® 435. Scaled-up (300 g) acidolysis reaction and characterization were done on SL synthesized using Lipozyme ^® RM IM. SL reaction product was purified using short path distillation and fully characterized in terms of lipid classes, tocopherol, thermal behavior, and oxidative stability. The yield of purified scaled-up SL after short path distillation (SPD) was 72.96 wt%. The antioxidant in SL was reduced after SPD due to loss of tocopherols. This MLM-type-SL synthesized within 12 h using Lipozyme ^® RM IM had a high content of C10:0 and may have functional and health benefits.