DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS OF LIPASE EXTRACTED FROM BENI SEED AND BAMBARA NUTS

Lipase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of ester bonds in substrates such as phospholipids, triglycerides and cholesteryl esters. Lipase (E.C. 3.1.1.3) was extracted from germinating bambara groundnut and beniseed and assayed using 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 8. The crude lipases showed optimum activity at pH 8.0 and temperature of 500C for Beniseed and pH 9.0 and temperature of 400C for Bambara groundnut. The Km and Vmax of lipase from Beniseed was observed to be 26.3416mg and 0.0076μm mL-1 min-1 respectively while that of lipase from Bambara groundnut was observed to be 21.141mg and 0.0058μm mL-1 min-1. Lipase from germinated Bambara groundnut and Beniseeds has various industrial applications following its thermo stability and alkaline pH making them of greater importance in processes that require minimal corrosion problems.