A Pichia anomala Strain (P. anomala M1) Isolated from Traditional Greek Sausage is an Effective Producer of Extracellular Lipolytic Enzyme in Submerged Fermentation

Ayeast isolate, selected for its lipolytic activity from a meat product, was characterized as Pichia anomala. Lipolytic activity, determined on p-NPA as esterase, was maximum at 28 ◦C, pH 6.5, and induced by the short chain triglyceride tributyrin. Fermentations in 2 L and 10 L stirred tank bioreactors, with 20 and 60 g/L glucose respectively, showed that in the second case lipolytic activity increased 1.74-fold, while the biomass increased 1.57-fold. Under otherwise identical aeration conditions, improved mixing in the 10 L reactor maintained higher dissolved oxygen levels which, along with the elevated glucose concentration, resulted in significant increase of specific rates of lipolytic activity (51 vs. 7 U/g/L), while specific rates of growth and glucose consumption maintained lower. The Crabtree-negative yeast (glucose insensitive growth) exhibited a Pasteur effect at lower dissolved oxygen concentrations while elevated glucose prevented ethanol formation under oxygen saturation. The particular physiological traits can be exploited to obtain significant lipolytic activity in a scalable aerobic process.