Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) is produced annually during olive oil extraction and contains most of the health-promoting 3-hydroxytyrosol of the olive fruit. To facilitate its recovery, enzymatic transesterification of hydroxytyrosol (HT) was directly performed in an aqueous system in the presence of ethyl acetate, yielding a 3-hydroxytyrosol acetate rich extract. For this, the promiscuous acyltransferase from Pyrobaculum calidifontis VA1 (PestE) was engineered by rational design. The best mutant for the acetylation of hydroxytyrosol (PestE_ I208A_L209F_N288A) was immobilized on EziG 2 beads, resulting in hydroxytyrosol conversions between 82 and 89 % in one hour, for at least ten reaction cycles in a buffered hydroxytyrosol solution. Due to inhibition by other phenols in OMWW the conversions of hydroxytyrosol from this source were between 51 and 62 %. In a preparative scale reaction, 13.8 mg (57 %) of 3-hydroxytyrosol acetate was extracted from 60 mL OMWW.

The valorization of olive mill wastewaters (OMWW), a by-product of the olive milling, is getting rising attention. Lipophilization of the main phenolic compound 3-hydroxytyrosol (HT) could facilitate its extraction. An immobilized variant of the promiscuous hydrolase/acyltransferase from Pyrobaculum calidifontis VA1 (PestE) was used to perform acetylation in water using ethyl acetate as acyl donor. PestE was used in a segmented flow setting to allow continuous operation. Additionally, HT precursors were made accessible by pretreatment with almond b-glucosidase and the hydrolytic activity of PestE_I208A_L209F_N288A.

Graphite oxide (GO) has been used for the immobilization of several classes of enzymes, exhibiting very interesting properties as an immobilization matrix. However, the effect the nanomaterial has on the enzyme cannot be predicted. Herein, the effect GO has on the catalytic behavior of several (S)-selective amine transaminases [(S)-ATAs] has been investigated. These enzymes were the focus of this work as they are homodimers with pyridoxal 5′-phosphate in their active site, significantly more complex systems than other enzymes previously studied. Addition of GO (up to 0.1 mg/ml) in the reaction medium leads to activation (up to 50% improved activity) for most enzymes studied, while they maintain their temperature profile (they perform better between 40 and 45°C) and their stability. However, the effect is not universal and there are enzymes that are negatively influenced by the presence of the nanomaterial. More profound is the effect on the (S)-ATA from Chromobacterium violaceum which loses almost 50% of its activity in the presence of 0.1 mg/ml GO, while the stability was significantly decreased, losing its activity after 2 h incubation at 40°C, in the presence of 25 μg/ml GO. This negative effect seems to rise from minor secondary structure alterations; namely, a loss of α-helices and subsequent increase in random coil (∼3% in the presence of 25 μg/ml GO). We hypothesize that the effect the GO has on (S)-ATAs is correlated to the surface chemistry of the enzymes; the less negatively-charged enzymes are deactivated from the interaction with GO. This insight will aid the rationalization of ATA immobilization onto carbon-based nanomaterials.