Modification of soy crude lecithin by partial enzymatic hydrolysis using phosholipase A1

Lecithin or phospholipids is natural and widely used emulsifier. To improve its emulsifying properties, lecithin is modified by enzymatic hydrolysis using Phospholipase A1 (PLA1). PLA1 hydrolyzes at sn-1 position, that usually occupied by saturated fatty acids and more unsaturated fatty acid in lecithin is expected to increase hydrophilic properties. This study was aimed to investigate the hydrolysis time on the characteristics of partially hydrolyzed soy lecithin from Anjasmoro variety as one of Indonesian soybean superior varieties. The crude lecithin had hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of 5.0, and hydrolysis of Anjasmoro variety soybean lecithin by PLA1 increased HLB value due to increasing unsaturated fatty acids and lysophospholipids. PLA1 had a preference to hydrolyze saturated fatty acids. After hydrolysis, acetone insoluble (AI) of lecithin also increased because more polar lecithin was produced and phospholipids class was dominated by lysophospholipids. PLA1 is a promising enzyme for lecithin modification and might had advantage over PLA2 because of its action at sn-1 position that usually occupied by saturated fatty acids.