Effect of laccase from Trametes versicolor on the oxidative stability of edible vegetable oils

The increasing demand of natural food from consumers has limited the use of traditional methods to control the oxidation of lipids, such as synthetic antioxidants and hydrogenation. Besides, it has been reported that the use of enzymes is efficient to eliminate dissolved oxygen in foods such as vegetable oils. Laccase is a polyphenol oxidase and the reduction of oxygen to water is accompanied by the oxidation, typically, of a phenolic substrate. Laccase have become important, industrially relevant enzymes that can be used for a number of diverse applications such waste detoxification, textile dye transformation, food technologic uses, biosensor and analytical applications, bioethanol production, among others.The target of this study was to evaluate the effect of laccase enzyme from Trametes versicolor, on the oxidative stability of sesame, chia, peanut and sunflower oils, measured through the peroxide value(PV)and conjugated dienes(K232) and trienes(K270). The samples of oil with laccase showed higher PV,K232 and K270 than their corresponding controls, under the conditions evaluated(room temperature and 60℃). The results suggest that fungal laccase has an unexpected pro-oxidant effect on vegetable oils,possibly promoted by products derived from the oxidation of phenols by enzymatic action.