Enhancement of Release of Short‐Chain Fatty Acids from Milk Fat with Immobilized Microbial Lipase

Candida cylindracea or Rhizopus arrhizus lipase was entrapped in polymer gels prepared from photo‐cross‐linkable resin prepolymers. The immobilized enzyme was used in milk fat hydrolysis and effective in enhancing the release of short‐chain fatty acids compared with free enzyme. The molar percentage of short‐chain fatty acids (butyric acid to capric acid) released in the reaction increased significantly after enzyme immobilization. The gel composed of hydrophobic long‐chain prepolymer gave the highest increase, with 5.9‐fold and 4.5‐fold increases for C. cylindracea and R. arrhizus lipase, respectively. Difference in substrate diffusion rate between milk fat triglycerides may be responsible for this behavior.