Work

Glycerophosphoinositol and glycerophosphocholine from the enzymatic hydrolysis of fractionated sunflower lecithin

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Sunflower lecithin, a by-product of oil extraction and refining, was used as biomass for the obtainment of sn -glycero-3-phosphoinositol (glycerophosphoinositol, GPI) and sn -glycero-3-phosphocholine (glycerophosphocholine, GPC), which have anti-inflammatory and cognitive enhancer properties, respectively. Solvent fractionation and biocatalysis were applied. On the one hand, ethanol partitioning of lecithin gave two fractions enriched in phosphatidylinositol (non-soluble fraction) and phosphatidylcholine (soluble fraction), respectively, that were separated and used as precursors of GPI and GPC. On the other hand, the former fraction was hydrolyzed in a fully aqueous medium by using the phospholipase A1 from Aspergillus oryzae (Lecitase® Ultra) to give GPI that was purified by ion exchange and silica chromatography (98 mg). The latter fraction, treated with the lipase Novozym® 435 in t- butanol (12 % water), gave 100 mg of GPC upon purification by silica chromatography. Besides its use as natural emulsifier, sunflower lecithin can be valorized as feedstock for the preparation of high value chemicals.

Source: Industrial Crops and Products

DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.122253