LIPASE-CATALYZED ESTER HYDROLYSIS

Abstract: The invention provides a process for hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium or Aspergillus at pH 3-7, characterized by the presence of an aluminium salt, and particularly to such a process for hydrolysis of resin in pulp. It also provides a method of increasing the rate of hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of such a lipase, by incorporation of an aluminium salt. Addition of aluminium salt significantly increases the hydrolysis rate of esters in the presence of the above lipases. A strong increase of fat hydrolysis (from c. 50 % to c. 87 % hydrolysis) was found with as little as 10 mu M Al<+++>.

Description: UPASE-CATALYZED ESTER HYDROLYSIS TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a process for hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium or Aspergillus at a pH in the range 3-7, and particularly to such a process for hydrolysis of resin in pulp. It also relates to a method of increasing the rate of hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of such a lipase. BACKGROUND ART It is known that lipases such as the above mentioned can be used with advantage for efficient hydrolysis of water-insoluble esters, particularly triglycerides at acid pH. It is also known that some types of pulp made from wood have a high resin content. The resin can create disturbances in the process of pulp manufacture and may also have a negative effect on the properties of the final pulp product. Resin of wood material contains considerable amounts of triglycerides and can be hydrolyzed by lipase (EP 374,700). It is the object of this invention to provide an improved process for ester hydrolysis, applicable to hydrolysis of resin ester, using the above lipases. STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION We have found that, surprisingly, addition of aluminium salt significantly increases the hydrolysis rate of esters in the presence of the above lipases at acid pH. A strong increase of fat hydrolysis (from c. 50% to c. 87% hydrolysis) was found with as little as 10 μM Al +++ , T. Nishio e. al., Agric. Biol. Chem., 51 (1), 181-186, 1987, in Table II shows that the activity of lipase from Pseudomonas fragi at pH 9.0 is lowered to 94% by incubation with 1x10 '3 M of Al 3+ . In contrast to this, we have surprisingly found significant increase of lipase activity by addition of lower concentrations of Al +++ at acidic pH. Further, hydrolysis of resin by lipase from Candida cylindracea in the presence of aluminium sulfate has been described (TAPPI Papermakers' Conference, 24 April 1990, Atlanta), but the effect of the aluminium salt on hydrolysis rate was not described. Accordingly, the invention provides a process for hydrolysis of water- insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium or Aspergillus at a pH in the range 3-7, characterized by the presence of an aluminium salt. The invention also provides a method of increasing the rate of hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase, characterized in that the lipase is derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromo¬ bacterium or Aspergillus, by incorporation of an aluminium salt. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Process conditions Typical process conditions are pH 3-6, particularly 4-5.5, a temperature from ambient to 70°C, particularly 30-60°C, and reaction times of 0.5-3 hours. Examples of suitable enzymes are lipases derived from strains of Pseudomonas (especially Ps. cepacia, Ps. fluorescens, Ps. fragi and Ps. stutzeri), Candida antarctica (e.g. lipase A or B, see WO 88/02775) Humicola (especially H. brevispora, H. lanuginosa, H. brevis var. thermoidea and H. insolens), Chromo¬ bacterium (especially C. viscosum) and Aspergillus (especially A. nigeή. The amount of lipase will typically correspond to a lipase activity of 1 ,000- 100,000 LU/kg dry matter or 50-5,000 LU/litre (LU = Lipase Unit, defined in WO 89/04361). The aluminium salt used in the invention may be any salt that is soluble at the conditions of the process. Conveniently, aluminium sulfate or aluminium chloride can be used. A suitable concentration for achieving increased hydrolysis rate is 1-50 M as Al +++ , preferably 2-20 μM. Ester hydrolysis The process of the invention can be used for any lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of water-insoluble esters, particularly triglycerides. Thus, the process of the invention may be used for fat hydrolysis in the production of fatty acids, glycerides and/or glycerol from fat or oil. This may be a liquid at ambient temperature, such as soy bean oil and many other oils and many other oils, or it may be a high melting fat, such as beef tallow. Hydrolysis of resin esters The process of the invention is particularly applicable to the hydrolysis of resin esters during a pulping or paper-making process, e.g. to avoid pitch troubles such as paper contamination or paper breaks. The process of the invention may be applied to any pitch-containing pulp, especially to pulps with a considerable content of triglycerides and other esters from pitch. Examples are pulps produced by mechanical pulping, alone or combined with a gentle chemical treatment, such as GW (Ground Wood), TMP (Thermo Mechanical Pulp) and CTMP (Chemical Thermo Mechanical Pulp). Hydrolysis of esters in pitch according to the invention can be done in the pulping or stock preparation section, where addition of aluminium sulfate (alum) is particularly advantageous since it can also act as a retention or flocculation aid. The pulp typically has a consistency of 0.2-5% dry substance. To avoid break-down of the fibre structure in the pulp, cellulase side- activities should be essentially absent, preferably below 1000 EGU/kg of pulp dry matter. Cellulase activity in EGU units is determined as follows: A substrate solution is prepared, containing 34.0 g/l CMC (Hercules 7 LFD) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 6.0. The enzyme sample to be analyzed is dissolved in the same buffer. 5 ml substrate solution and 0,15 ml enzyme solution are mixed and transferred to a vibration viscosimeter (e.g. MM 3000 from Sofraser, France), thermostated at 40°C. One Endo-Glucanase Unit (EGU) is defined as the amount of enzyme that reduces the viscosity to one half under these conditions. The amount of enzyme sample should be adjusted to provide 0.01-0.02 EGU/ml in the reaction mixture. EXAMPLES EXAMPLE 1 Effect of various At ** concentrations Ground wood pulp was treated with Humicola lipase in the presence of varying amounts of aluminium sulfate. After the reaction, the degree of hydrolysis was determined by quantitative TLC using latroscan™. Conditions were 4.0% pulp slurry, pH 4.5, 40°C, 2 hours reaction time, enzyme dosage 60 LU/g. The dosage of aluminium salt is given as A^SO^ β in % w/w of dry pulp. Results: These results demonstrate increasing hydrolysis rate up to an aluminium dosage of about 6% relative to dry matter, i.e. up to about 2.5 g/l or about 10 μM as Al +++ . EXAMPLE 2 A number of different microbial lipases were tested in the same manner as in Example 1 using 0 and 6% AKgfSO^ (approx. 2.5 g/l or 10 μM Al +++ ). The dosage of each lipase was adjusted so as to obtain a comparable degree of hydrolysis in each experiment without Al +++ . Results (% hydrolysis): With Al +++ 78.8 96.4 94.2 A strong activation of the lipase effect is seen with the lipases tested, both of yeast and bacterial origin.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A process for hydrolysis of water-insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium or Aspergillus at a pH in the range 3-7, characterized by the presence of an aluminium salt. 2. A process according to Claim 1 , wherein the concentration of aluminium salt is 1-50 μM as Al +++ , preferably 2-20 μM. 3. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the aluminium salt is aluminium chloride or aluminium sulfate. 4. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein the pH is in the range 3-6, preferably 4-5.5 5. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the lipase concentration corresponds to an activity of 1-100 KLU/kg of dry matter. 6. A process according to any preceding claim for hydrolysis of esters in pitch during a pulping or paper-making process. 7. A process according to the preceding claim, whereby the cellulase activity is below 1000 EGU/kg. 8. A method of increasing the rate of hydrolysis at pH 3-7 of water-insoluble ester in the presence of a lipase derived from a strain of Humicola, Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas, Chromobacterium or Aspergillus, by incorporation of an aluminium salt.

Inventors: AWAJI HARUO, FUJITA YUKO, HELDT-HANSEN HANS PETER, SHARYOU MASAKI, SHIMOTO HIDESATO, AWAJI, HARUO, FUJITA, YUKO, HELDT-HANSEN, HANS, PETER, SHARYOU, MASAKI, SHIMOTO, HIDESATO
Applicants: JUJO PAPER CO LTD, NOVONORDISK AS, JUJO PAPER CO., LTD, NOVO NORDISK A/S
Application year: 1992
Main classification: D21C3
IPC codes: C12P7, C12S3, D21C5, D21C9, D21H21