Title : Green nanobiocatalysts for sustainable ester production: Advancing lipase immobilization and process optimization
Abstract:
The growing emphasis on sustainable and environmentally responsible strategies to produce value-added chemicals has stimulated the development of enzyme-based biocatalytic processes, particularly for the industrial production of flavor and fragrance esters. Enzyme- mediated esterification offers notable advantages over conventional chemical synthesis, including mild reaction conditions, increased catalytic specificity, minimised by-product generation, and improved product quality. Esters are fragrant organic compounds mainly used as flavouring and aromatic agents in various industries. These are amongst the highest volume of industrial organic compounds produced having a market size of USD 89.56 Billion in 2023 which is expected to reach USD 134.87 Billion by 2032. Esters are employed in different industrial and household applications with major role in food, detergent, paint, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, herbicide, and beverage sectors. Esters also functions as vital flavoring and fragrance agents in the synthesis of jellies, chocolates, cakes, beverages, perfumes, and wide range of personal care formulations.
Lipases (triacylglycerol ester hydrolase; EC 3.1.1.3) are ubiquitous and widely used biocatalysts with broad applications across various industrial sectors. Globally enzyme lipase was valued at USD 445.3 million in year 2022 which is projected to reach USD 670.93 million by 2029 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.03%. Lipases under different conditions can catalyse wide range of reactions including hydrolysis, esterification, transesterification, acidolysis, etc. This enzyme is a promising alternative green tool for ester production that can work under unfavourable conditions resulting in high activity and stability. This makes lipases an appropriate choice for use in distinct reaction conditions, including aqueous environments, deep eutectic solvents, organic solvents, supercritical fluids, and ionic liquids. By integrating lipase technology with nanotechnology, use of green solvents, and immobilization strategies will open new opportunities for development of efficient, economical, and sustainable biocatalysts for synthesis of industrial ester.
Green synthesis represents an eco-friendly approach in nanomaterial synthesis, which aims to eradicate the toxic waste in nature, decreases energy consumption and temperature in the process. Immobilization of lipase on appropriately designed nanostructured support therefore represents a promising strategy for enhancing the stability, recyclability, and efficiency of enzyme. The properties of the support matrix are principal in determining the effectiveness of the immobilized enzyme. Biopolymers used for enzyme immobilization are alginate, chitosan, carrageenan, cellulose, and agar-agar etc. Green synthesis leads to reduced solvent toxicity and the production of renewable products. Thus, immobilization of biocatalysts on nanostructured materials developed by greener method using biopolymer could considerably enhance their functional stability, recycling ability, as well as it supports easy recovery and separation. Taguchi design of experiments and response surface methodology are statistical approaches used for the identification of process parameters optimization, and establishing robust operating conditions for immobilization of enzymes and production of ester. These optimization tools can significantly improve the enzyme activity, enhances the ester yield, reduces process variability and improves the productivity and cost- effectiveness of industrial ester production.
Key Words: Triacylglycerol ester hydrolase, Esterification, Green-biocatalyst, Enzyme immobilization, Nanomaterials, Taguchi design
