Rhizopus oryzae Lipase, a Promising Industrial Enzyme: Biochemical Characteristics, Production and Biocatalytic Applications

Lipases are biocatalysts with a significant potential to enable a shift from current pollutant
manufacturing processes to environmentally sustainable approaches. The main reason of this prospect
is their catalytic versatility as they carry out several industrially relevant reactions as hydrolysis of
fats in water/lipid interface and synthesis reactions in solvent-free or non-aqueous media such as
transesterification, interesterification and esterification. Because of the outstanding traits of Rhizopus
oryzae lipase (ROL), 1,3-specificity, high enantioselectivity and stability in organic media, its application
in energy, food and pharmaceutical industrial sector has been widely studied. Significant advances
have been made in the biochemical characterisation of ROL particularly in how its activity and stability
are aected by the presence of its prosequence. In addition, native and heterologous production of
ROL, the latter in cell factories like Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataella phai
(Pichia pastoris), have been thoroughly described. Therefore, in this review, we summarise the
current knowledge about R. oryzae lipase (i) biochemical characteristics, (ii) production strategies and
(iii) potential industrial applications.