The structured lipids are produced through sn-1,3-specific interesterification of soybean oil with medium-chain triacylglycerol(MCT) in continuous reactions catalyzed by Thermomyces lanuginose lipase(Lipozyme TL IM).Cheap Lipozyme TL IM presents similar interesterification degree(ID), sn-1,3-specificity and residual activity as expensive Rhizomucor miehei in batch reactions. In packed-bed interesterification of soybean oil with MCT catalyzed by Lipozyme TL IM, the residence time has a significant effect on ID, while temperature has a small effect at45–70 °C. The sn-1,3-specificity of Lipozyme TL IM is not satisfactory when reaction temperature is higher than60 °C. The optimal residence time and temperature are 30–40 min and 55 °C, respectively. Among the solvents,including acetone, isopropanol, tert-butanol, and isobutanol, used to recover the activity of the used Lipozyme TL IM, acetone is the most suitable one than the other solvents.
