# Enzymatic Degumming of Soybean Oil for Raw Material Preparation in BioFuel Production
## 4 Discussion
The total duration of the process can reach 4 h and is also accompanied by  
Figure 4: Optimal ranges of activity of the enzyme Purifine® 3G depending on pH and temperature: (green—optimal conditions for enzymatic activity and effective degumming (e.g., pH 6.7–7.4; 53–58 \({}^{\circ}\)C); yellow—suboptimal conditions with reduced enzyme efficiency; red—absence or minimal enzyme activity due to unfavorable pH and/or temperature). increased energy consumption and the formation of a large volume of wastewater with a high phosphate content, which complicates cleaning [10]. In contrast, the proposed work uses the enzyme complex Purifine(r) 3G, which combines the activity of phospholipase C (PL-C) and phospholipase A2 (PL-A2). This complex allows degumming without prior acidification, since its optimal activity is achieved at neutral or near-neutral pH (6.9-7.1). This approach eliminates the need for additional acidity control steps, the use of acids and alkalis, and also reduces the risk of emulsions and by-product formation. In addition, an important technological advantage of Purifine(r) 3G is the significantly lower water requirement for the reaction. As shown in Section 3, effective phosphorus reduction to <10 ppm is achieved with as little as 2.5% added water by weight of oil, while Quara LowP and Lecitase Ultra enzymes require at least 5% water, which increases waste and the workload of the separation stage. The degumming reaction with Purifine(r) 3G lasts only 2 h and allows for the reduction of the phosphorus content to a level of <10 ppm, which fully meets the industry standards for the further use of the oil as a raw material in the production of biofuels. In addition, the action of phospholipase C leads to the formation of diglycerides, which remain in the oil phase, increasing the yield of neutral oil, in contrast to the formation of soaps and product losses characteristic of traditional methods. Enzymatic processes can reduce total energy consumption by 20-30% compared to classical methods [5]. Moreover, a number of technological parameters established in this study indicate the increased energy efficiency of the proposed approach. Enzymatic degumming using the Purifine(r) 3G complex is carried out at a temperature of 50-55 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which is lower than that used in traditional acid or hydration methods, where temperatures reach 60-85 \({}^{\circ}\)C. In addition, this technology does not require multi-stage heating, neutralization, or washing, and consumes a minimal amount of water (2-5%), which significantly reduces thermal energy costs and the load on wastewater treatment systems. Thus, compared to other enzymatic approaches (Quara LowP, Lecitase Ultra), the use of Purifine(r) 3G has obvious advantages--simplification of the process, reduction of reagent and water consumption, reduction of processing time, increased oil yield, and environmental friendliness. It is important to emphasize that one of the key technological advantages of the Purifine(r) 3G enzyme complex is the lack of necessity for preliminary treatment of the oil with phosphoric acid or pH adjustment using acids or alkalis to achieve optimal reaction conditions. This neutral pH range (6.9-7.1) not only simplifies the process by reducing the need for reagents, but also creates favorable conditions for the potential utilization of the resulting sludge (rubber phase). Unlike acid-enzymatic methods, the sludge formed after treatment with Purifine(r) 3G does not contain residual acids or inorganic salts, which significantly expands its potential for further utilization. Although a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the rubber phase composition was not conducted within this study, its chemical nature allows for several substantiated assumptions. Given the specificity of enzymatic hydrolysis of soybean oil, the primary substrates for enzymatic action are phosphatidlinositol and phosphatidylcholine [1; 32; 33].