Abstract

Lipases are a group of enzymes which catalyse hydrolysis of long chain triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acid. They are positioned only after proteases and carbohydrases in world enzyme market and contribute to 5% of enzyme market. They are in plants, animals and microorganisms and are consequently classified as plant, animal and microbial lipases. Lipases produced by microorganisms are increasingly studied for the development of enzyme technology. This study is the first work showing lipase activity produced by yeasts isolated from Moroccan traditional tanneries. The kinetics of lipase activity of the three yeasts; Trichosporon aashii, Trichosporon asteroids and Trichosporon coremiiforme combined with the evolution of the biomass was studied. This allowed us to reveal two major phases of production of this enzyme.