Influence of microwave radiation on free Candida antarctica lipase B activity and stability.

The influence of microwave heating on free Candida antarctica lipase B activity and stability was studied over the temperature range from 40 to 110 degrees C. Concerning the lipase activity, identical initial rate and conversion yield were obtained under microwave radiation and classical thermal heating for the alcoholysis between ethyl butyrate and butanol in a solvent-free system. On the other hand, the kinetics of the free lipase inactivation in butanol appears to be influenced by the heating mode. The Arrhenius plot obtained under classical heating was linear over all the temperature range studied whereas a biphasic Arrhenius plot was obtained under microwaves. The non-classical effect of the microwave heating on the initial rate of the enzymatic inactivation was thus dependent on the temperature of incubation.