A major proportion of the organic matter contained by domestic wastewater is mainly
formed by lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. In order to degrade this organic matter,
microorganisms produce hydrolytic enzymes like proteases, lipases and other enzymes that
cannot be produced by standard cultivation techniques, which makes its recovery of interest. In
the present study protease and lipase were extracted by using magnetic stirring and ultrasound
disintegration combined with different additives. It was observed that the concentration of
Triton X100 has a great influence in the extraction of protease, but it has no effect in the
extraction of lipase. Samples obtained after ultrasound disintegration with 0% and 2% Triton
X100 were further purified by precipitation with ammonium sulphate and dialysis. These
samples were frozen and lyophilized in order to recover them in powder form. The optimal
process for the recovery of lipase was a combination of ultrasound treatment using 0% TX100,
followed by dialysis and lyophilization. This process allowed recovering around 23 lipase
units/g solid.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
