Patent ID: 8192782

Claim:
A process of enzymatic degumming an edible oil, comprising treating the edible oil with a lipid acyltransferase, wherein the lipid acyltransferase: (a) transfers an acyl group from a phospholipid to one or more acyl acceptors selected from sterol and stanol to form an ester; (b) comprises an amino acid sequence motif GDSX, wherein X is an amino acid residue selected from L, A, V, I, F, Y, H, Q, T, N, M and S; (c) when aligned to either SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 37 has a GANDY block; and (d) has at least 5% acyltransferase activity when reacted with a substrate, wherein the substrate is soya bean oil supplemented with 1% plant sterol and 2% phosphatidylcholine, wherein: (i) the substrate to which no enzyme has been added is a control; (ii) in an enzymatic reaction with the substrate, lipid material from the reaction and the control are analyzed; and (iii) acyltransferase activity is calculated as a percentage of total enzymatic activity using the formula: (Δ×100)/((Δ+Δ % fatty acid)/Mv fatty acid), wherein: Δ % fatty acid=% fatty acid(enzyme)−% fatty acid(control); Mv fatty acid=average molecular weight of the fatty acids; and Δ=Δ % sterol ester/Mv sterol ester, wherein: Δ % sterol ester=% sterol/stanol ester(enzyme)−% sterol/stanol ester(control); and Mv sterol ester=average molecular weight of the sterol/stanol esters.