Lipases of germinating jojoba seeds efficiently hydrolyze triacylglycerols and wax esters and display wax ester-synthesizing activity.

In in vitro assays, jojoba lipases catalyzed hydrolysis of triacylglycerols and different wax esters in a broad range of temperatures. In addition, the enzymes had the ability to synthesize wax esters in the backward reaction. Our data suggest that jojoba lipases may be more similar to other plant lipases than previously assumed.