Polar Head Modified Phospholipids by Phospholipase D-Catalyzed Transformations of Natural Phosphatidylcholine for Targeted Applications: An Overview

This review describes the use of phospholipaseD(PLD) to performthe transphosphatidylation of themost common natural phospholipid (PL), phosphatidylcholine (PC) to obtain polar headmodified phospholipids with real targeted applications. The introduction of different polar heads with distinctive physical and chemical properties such as charge, polarity and dimensions allows the obtainment of very different PLs, which can be exploited in very diverse fields of application. Moreover, the inclusions of a bioactivemoiety in the PL polar head constitutes a powerful tool for the stabilization and administration of active ingredients. The use of this biocatalytic approach allows the preparation of compounds which cannot be easily obtained by classical chemical methods, by using mild and green reaction conditions. PLD is a very versatile enzyme, able to catalyze both the hydrolysis of PC to choline and phosphatidic acid (PA), and the transphosphatidylation reaction in the presence of an appropriate alcohol. The yield of production of the desired product and the ratio with the collateral PA formation is highly dependent on parameters such as the nature and concentration of the alcohol and the enzymatic source. The application of PLD catalyzed transformations for the production of a great number of PLs with important uses in medical, nutraceutical and cosmetic sectors will be discussed in this work

Valorization of Corn Seed Oil Acid Degumming Waste for Phospholipids Preparation by Phospholipase D-Mediated Processes

This work focused on the phospholipase D-mediated treatment of the waste residue coming from acid degumming, which constitutes the second part of the degumming step in the crude corn edible oil refining process. This industrial process produces a complex by-product (called gum), a mixture containing phospholipids (PLs) whose composition depends on the nature of the oil source. This residue is usually disposed of with the consequential costs and environmental concerns. An efficient multistep protocol of physical separations of the PL-rich fraction from waste gums has been set up, including centrifugation, precipitation and solvent partitioning. This waste stream, which is thoroughly characterized after the concentration process, constitutes a renewable feedstock for the production of value-added PLs with modified polar head-exploiting phospholipase D-mediated biotransformations, which have been successfully performed on this complex natural mixture. The valorization of these waste gums through the production of high value PLs for targeted applications paves the way to a new alternative approach for their disposal, which could be of great interest from a circular economy perspective