Screening of Phospholipases for Degumming of Soybean Oil

Abstract

Soybean oil extracted by hexane contained about 2.0% phospholipids of which39% were phosphatidylcholine, 30% were phosphatidylethanolamine and 15% werephosphatidylinositol. Attempts to remove these phospholipids with phospholipase C,phospholipase D, acid and alkaline phosphatase were unsuccessful. On the other hand,phospholipase A, from porcine pancreas was very effective in removing phospholipidsfrom soybean oil. The phospholipase A, was active in oil and could hydrolyse phospholipidswithout any organic or inorganic solvent. Analysis of residual phospholipids fromenzymatic hydrolysis showed that the enzymes had no preference over any type ofphospholipids. Thus, phospholipase A, might be a prospective enzyme for use in placeof phosphoric acid as a degumming agent.