[Biochemical processing of fats and oils into new lipid products with improved biological and physico-chemical properties].

Recent advances in the improvement of biological and physicochemical characteristics of lipids are reviewed, with emphasis on products of biochemical processing of natural (animal or plant) fats and oils. Possible utilities of these new lipid products include their use in food and forage industries, as well as in the production of new medicines and in biotechnology. Specific features of biochemical transformations of lipids (hydrolysis, esterification, and re-esterification) in the presence of water-soluble and immobilized lipases of animal, plant, and microbial origin are scrutinized.