Lipid Biotechnology

Book excerpt: This text presents the latest advances in supercritical fluid technology, biocatalysis, bioprocess engineering, and crop breeding. It offers an in-depth review of the most recent principles and approaches utilized in the development and design of lipids for cosmetic, industrial and pharmaceutical, and food products. Discussing a variety of lipid-active enzymes from animal, plant, fungal, and microbial sources, "Lipid Biotechnology" covers modern techniques in genetic engineering for the modification of conventional oilseed crops and biosynthetic pathways for cutin polymers, flavor volatiles, oxylipins, and terpenoid compounds. It chronicles the use of lipases and phospholipases in the creation of structured lipids and fats, including cocoa butter, low-calorie fats, and Betapol, and emerging methods using supercritical carbon dioxide as a benign solvent for lipid analysis, fractionation, and enzymatic reaction. It also covers reaction conditions, reactor design, solvent selection, immobilization technology, and enzyme sources for optiml large-scale manufacturing, and describes the formation of oxylipins through the lipoxygenase pathway, as well as other unusual fatty acids. The authors provide in-depth analyses of the structure, metabolic and enzymatic functions and mechanisms, defensive and catalytic properties, industrial uses, and other applications of oxilipins and lipases.