Soybean lipoxygenases: Purification and stability of the free and immobilized enzymes

This chapter describes the purification and stability of the free and immobilized of soybean lipoxygenases (LOX). It is demonstrated that besides CNBr Sepharose 4B, soybean lipoxygenase can also be stabilized by immobilization on Fractogel epoxy molding compound (EMD) tentacle supports and successfully used as a biocatalyst in this form. Immobilization on these supports especially on EMD Azlactone resulted in a much better stabilization of the biocatalyst. This may be because of removal of proteolytic enzymes during washing and protection of the immobilized enzyme by the matrix. LOX-1 showed an overall better stability on Fractogel EMD tentacle supports than LOX-2. The successful immobilization of LOX on this mechanically stable supports can have some interesting technical implications for biotransformations where mechanical stability of supports is a desirable characteristic.