Efficient Immobilization of Lecitase in Gelatin Hydrogel and Degumming of Rice Bran Oil Using a Spinning Basket Reactor

Immobilization of Lecitase (Phospholipase A1) in gelatin hydrogel and its stability is studied with a view to utilizing the immobilized enzyme for degumming rice bran oil. Excellent retention of enzyme activity (>80%) is observed in hydrogel containing 43.5% gelatin crosslinked with glutaraldehyde. Compared to the free enzyme which has a broad pH‐activity profile (6.5–8.0), the activity of the immobilized enzyme is strongly dependent on pH and has a pH‐optimum of pH 7.5. The optimum temperature of enzyme activity increases from 37 to 50 °C. Compared to the free enzyme which loses all its activity in 72 h at 50 °C, the immobilized enzyme retains its activity in full. The immobilized enzyme has been used efficiently in a spinning basket bioreactor for the degumming of rice bran oil with 6 recycles without loss of enzyme activity. The phosphorus content of the oil decreases from 400 ppm to 50–70 ppm in each cycle. After charcoal treatment and dewaxing, a second enzymatic treatment brings down the phosphorus content to <5 ppm.