Immobilisation ofRhizopus arrhizuscells on a solid support (polyurethane foam) for lipase production has been explored.Lipase biosynthesis was repressed at a high glucose level. Maximum productivity was recorded at1gl1glucose concentration.The inclusion of 0.5 g l1corn oil (as an inducer) in the fermentation medium resulted in 2.5-fold higher lipase productioncompared to the control where no oil was added. Repeated-batch experiments revealed that immobilisedR.arrhizuscellsdemonstrated reproducible behaviour, producing the same amount of enzyme over a 120 h period. The storage stability of theenzyme was investigated and enzyme activity reduction was 26% within 160 h. © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Allrights reserved