Glycerophosphoinositol and glycerophosphocholine from the enzymatic hydrolysis of fractionated sunflower lecithin

Sunflower lecithin, a by-product of oil extraction and refining, was used as biomass for the obtainment of sn-glycero-3-phosphoinositol (glycerophosphoinositol, GPI) and sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (glycerophosphocholine, GPC), which have anti-inflammatory and cognitive enhancer properties, respectively. Solvent fractionation and biocatalysis were applied. On the one hand, ethanol partitioning of lecithin gave two fractions enriched in phosphatidylinositol (non-soluble fraction) and phosphatidylcholine (soluble fraction), respectively, that were separated and used as precursors of GPI and GPC. On the other hand, the former fraction was hydrolyzed in a fully aqueous medium by using the phospholipase A1 from Aspergillus oryzae (Lecitase® Ultra) to give GPI that was purified by ion exchange and silica chromatography (98 mg). The latter fraction, treated with the lipase Novozym® 435 in t-butanol (12 % water), gave 100 mg of GPC upon purification by silica chromatography. Besides its use as natural emulsifier, sunflower lecithin can be valorized as feedstock for the preparation of high value chemicals.