Biocatalysis with hydroperoxide lyase in extracts from Penicillium camemberti in neat organic solvent media

Abstract

Biocatalysis with hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) in extracts from Penicillium camemberti, in neat organic solvent media has been investigated. The effects of reaction conditions including organic solvent mixtures, initial water activity (a_w) and reaction temperature as well as the effect of the lyoprotectants, KCl and dextran 1 kDa, on HPL activity were studied. The addition of KCl to the enzymatic extract (70:1 protein, w/w) prior to lyophilization, enhanced HPL activity 6.53-fold. In contrast, the presence of dextran at a ratio of 8:1 decreased the enzymatic activity. Using hexane as the reaction medium, with an initial a_w of 0.1 and 0.5, the HPL specific activity was determined to be as 6.3 and 65.9 nmol converted 10-HPOD/mg protein/min, for the enzymatic extract without and with KCl present, respectively. Although HPL enzymatic extract with KCl showed a relatively low optimum reaction temperature (45°C) compared to 55°C without KCl, it exhibited a 2.51- and 2.78-fold higher thermal stability at 60 and 80°C, respectively. The kinetic results indicated that the highest HPL catalytic efficiency, V_max/K_m, of 6.58 × 10⁻² mL/mg protein/min, was obtained in the presence of KCl.

Keywords::

• Penicillium camemberti
• hydroperoxide lyase
• lyoprotectants
• enzyme stability
• biocatalysis
• neat organic solvent media

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This research work was supported by a Discovery Research grant awarded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).