Improving lipase production from Candida rugosa by a biochemical engineering approach.

It has been tested that the use of oleic acid as sole carbon source and as inducer of the production has an important effect in the lipase production by Candida rugosa under aerobic conditions. A simple structured mathematical model coupled with a methodology to estimate biomass, specific growth rate and substrate was developed and applied to the production of Candida rugosa lipase in batch, fed-batch and continuous operation to obtain a reproducible product. The best operation mode tested was a controlled specific growth rate fed-batch with a 10-fold increase in productivity related to batch operation. Downstream of the culture broth has demonstrated that the ratio between the different isoenzymes presented can be modulated by the selection of the operational strategy and this ratio is quite different comparing with commercial lipases. Thus, their catalytic properties in front of chiral reactions could be different.