Enhancing the performance of a phospholipase A1 for oil degumming by bio-imprinting and immobilization

• Activity and substrate specificity of phospholipase A1 in hexane media were enhanced by bio-imprinting.
• Activity of imprinted-phospholipase A1 in hexane media was further improved by immobilization on diatomite.
• Crude soybean oil could be highly efficiently degummed by immobilized-imprinted-phospholipase A1.
• Immobilized-imprinted-phospholipase A1 could be used in oil/hexane miscella degumming before desolventizing.

When phospholipase A1 (PLA1) was bio-imprinted with 5% soybean lecithin at pH 5.0, its phospholipase (PLA) activity in lecithin–hexane solution increased by 30.9-fold and its substrate specificity was substantially enhanced. A further increase in PLA activity of the bio-imprinted PLA1 (bi-PLA1) from 562 U/g to 1288 U/g was obtained when 105 mg diatomite/mg bi-PLA1 was incorporated as an immobilization carrier. The degumming abilities of PLA1, bi-PLA1, and immobilized bi-PLA1 (im-bi-PLA1) in crude soybean oil and crude oil–hexane (1:1 w/w) miscella were also investigated. The phosphorus content in the crude soybean oil was reduced to 7.3 mg/kg from an initial level of 406.9 mg/kg after incubation with 100 mg/kg im-bi-PLA1 and 2% water at 50 °C for 180 min. In miscella degumming, the residual phosphorus content was reduced from 406.9 mg/kg to 18.7 mg/kg by incubation with 100 mg/kg im-bi-PLA1 and 2% water at 50 °C for 180 min and neutralization with 3 M NaOH solution. In comparison, the original PLA1 reduced the residual phosphorus content to 62.9 mg/kg and 92.4 mg/kg in crude oil and miscella degumming, respectively.

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