Enzymes : Pancrealipase, Fungal Lipase and Pancreatin

Significance of the Enzyme Pancrealipase

Pancrealipase is a substance which contains enzymes mainly lipase along with amylase and protease. It is obtained from the pancreas of the hog, Sus scrofa belonging to the family Suidae.

Gastric lipase (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is the more concentrated form of pancreatin and the lipase activity is increased. It is a cream coloured amorphous powder with characteristic odour. Each mg of this contains more than 24 units of lipase activity, 100 units of protease activity and 100 units of amylase activity.

Medicinal Uses and Health Benefits of Pancrealipase:

• Used in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis
• Used to treat cystic fibrosis
• Used for partial or complete surgical pancreatectomy

Significance of the Enzyme Fungal Lipase

Fungal lipase is manufactured from Asperigillus species by fermentation process. The fermented fluid is filtered by a sophisticated process to produce the filtrate which is suitable for spray drying. Fungal lipase is a brown coloured amorphous powder with a characteristic odour, which is soluble in water and insoluble in organic solvents.

English: salivary lipase Català: lipasa salival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If digestion of fat occurs incompletely from the diet, it may cause diarrhoea and there will be a deficiency of essential fatty acids. There is an important role of essential fatty acids in the body like maintaining the membrane structure in the cells and for the healthy skin and it should not be neglected.

Fungal lipase digests fats and fat bodies within a wide range of temperature and pH. It also regulates the cholesterol levels, triglycerides and maintains the weight management. It is used for the hydrolysis of fats. It should be stored in well closed containers away from the light in a cool place. It will be stable for 3 years.

Significance of the Enzyme Pancreatin

Pancreatin is an enzyme extracted from pancreas of certain animals like hog (Sus scrofa) of family Suidae, or ox (Bos taurus) of family Bovidae. Pancreatin contains the enzymes like amylase, lipase and protease. Pancreatin is an amorphous powder with white or buff colour. It does not have any characteristic taste and odour. It is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol and ether. Its activity can be observed in faintly alkaline medium.

Uses of Pancreatin:

Cartoon diagram of human (colored by : alpha helices in red, beta sheets in yellow, and in green) in complex with (colored blue) and a inhibitor. Created using (http://www.pymol.org) and . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is used for treating pancreatic deficiency like pancreatitis and fibrocystic diseases of pancreas. It is used for preparing peptonized or pre digested food. It is employed as digestive aid for converting starch into dextrin and sugar, proteins into proteoses and derived substances and fats into glycerol and fatty acids. Each gramme of pancreatin contains not less than 12,000 units of amylase activity, 1000 units of protease activity and 15,000 units of lipase activity.