Lipase

Lipase, formally triacylglycerol lipase (EC 3.1.1.3, CAS 9001-62-1) and also called triglyceride lipase or tributyrase, is the enzyme that hydrolyses the ester bonds of dietary fat. It works stepwise: a triacylglycerol plus water gives a diacylglycerol, a free fatty acid and a proton, and continued hydrolysis yields monoacylglycerol and finally glycerol with free fatty acids released at each stage. That stepwise action is what makes lipase useful both as a nutritional enzyme in multi-enzyme formats and as a processing enzyme where controlled release of short-chain fatty acids builds flavour or modifies the melting behaviour of a fat. Thovek's lipase is produced by microbial fermentation, with the production organism drawn from the strains established for commercial lipase — Rhizopus oryzae, Aspergillus niger or A. oryzae, or Candida rugosa — and the strain named on the lot documentation so the buyer can carry it into a dossier. This matters commercially more than it first appears, because a large part of the lipase on the market is animal-derived: pancreatic lipase supplied as pancreatin is recovered from porcine pancreas. Thovek's material contains no pancreatin and no animal pancreas tissue of any kind. It is therefore neither porcine nor bovine, and it is suitable for vegan, vegetarian, halal and kosher positioning subject to the relevant certification, which is available on request. Buyers who have previously bought "lipase" without specifying origin should treat that as a live question in their own labelling. The powder is standardised to a declared activity rather than to a protein content, since activity is the functional property being purchased. Activity is reported per lot on the certificate of analysis in FCC lipase units or in FIP units, and one enzyme unit (U) equals one micromole of substrate converted per minute; the SI katal, one mole per second, is impractically large for labelling. Maltodextrin or dicalcium phosphate is used to bring each lot to the ordered activity, with the carrier named on the CoA. Allergen status is declared per lot: the enzyme is free from milk, egg, fish, crustacean, tree nut and peanut, while soy and wheat status depends on the fermentation medium and is confirmed by test rather than assumed. Material is offered against the Enzyme Preparations family monograph of the Food Chemicals Codex published by USP. Enzyme dusts are recognised respiratory sensitisers and should be handled with dust control and appropriate PPE. Thovek describes composition and established nutrient and food-technology function only, and makes no therapeutic claim.