Understanding the Biocatalytic Potential of Lipase from Rhizopus chinensis

Lipases occupy the third position in the world market for the sale of the most industrially used enzymes, being one of the most versatile and promising classes, highlighting the genus Rhizopus chinensis, which is exceptionally useful as biocatalysts for short-chain fatty acid esterification reactions with ethanol, biodiesel, and n-heptane when used directly in the solvent-free system and in potential critical applications. In this context, the present work presents the first complete general review of the lipases of the genus Rhizopus chinensis focusing on their industrial applications, in addition to the different immobilization techniques and the main reactions as biocatalysts, since these are an excellent alternative due to their advantages in economic accessibility and respect for the environment. In addition, they have high specificity catalytic activity for esterification and transesterification reactions in the presence or absence of organic solvents; they can also have great thermophilicity and moderate pressure resistance, with their catalytic behavior modulated by changes in these conditions. This review showed that Rhizopus chinensis lipase has ample potential for many other biotechnological applications with the appropriate chemical modifications and immobilization strategy.