ABSTRACT:
Lipases are hydrolase enzymes which hydrolyze triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids. Microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and yeast are capable of producing lipases. These microbial lipases have wide range of industrial application. Lipases produce by the yeast are now gaining more attention with the help of new emerging enzyme technology. In this paper the lipolytic activity of marine yeasts were studied. Ten yeast strains were isolated from the marine samples collected from the coast of Port Blaire, Andaman and Nicobar Island, India. Primary screening was done in tributyrin agar medium and three isolates A, B and C showed positive activity by producing extracellular enzymes. The antioxidant activity of the isolates selected was done with DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, the isolates A,B,C showed 78%,77% and 66% respectively. Reducing power assay was also carried out. Secondary screening of the selected isolates was done to determine lipase activity using Tris-HCl buffer and phosphate buffer. The activity of A, B and C was found to be 48%, 63% and 60% respectively. The enzyme was extracted using different solvents as means of partial purification.