Lipase‐catalysed acidolysis of lard with caprylic acid to produce structured lipid

Summary Enzymatic acidolysis of lard with caprylic acid was investigated. Of the five lipases that were tested in the initial screening, immobilised lipase TL IM from Thermomyces lanuginosus resulted in the highest incorporation of caprylic acid into lard. This enzyme was further studied for the effect of enzyme load, organic solvent, substrate ratio, reaction time and temperature. HPLC was used to analyse the products from the acidolysis reaction. The highest incorporation was attained at 15% enzyme load. Among the solvents tested, n‐hexane was the best reaction medium for the acidolysis of lard with caprylic acid. Time course studied suggests that the incorporation of caprylic acid into lard was increased up to 37.7 mol% after 24 h. Desirable mole ratio of lard to caprylic acid was 1:2, caprylic acid incorporation up to 34.2 mol%. Temperature had no significant effect on enzyme activity in the range of 40–80 °C.