Enzyme technology is an ever-growing field of knowledge and, in recent years, this technology has raised renewed interest, due to the search
for new paradigms in several productive processes. Lipases, esterases and cutinases are enzymes used in a wide range of processes involving
synthesis and hydrolysis reactions. The objective of this work was to investigate and compare the specific lipase and esterase activities of five
enzymes – four already classified as lipases and one classified as cutinase - in the presence of natural and synthetic substrates. All tested enzymes
presented both esterase and lipase specific activities. The highest specific esterase activity was observed for Aspergillus 1068 lipase in natural
substrate and for F. oxysporum cutinase in synthetic substrate, while the highest specific lipase activity was observed for Geotrichum sp. lipase
in natural substrate and for F. oxysporum cutinase in synthetic substrate. These results display some interface-independent lipolytic activity
for all lipases tested. This is in accordance with the rationale that a new and broader definition of lipases may be necessary.
Keywords: lipase; esterase; cutinase; lipase specific activity; esterase specific activity