Expanded bed adsorption (EBA) was used to recover, concentrate and purify Fusarium solani pisi cutinase, secreted by a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, directly from a whole fermentation culture. A flow injection analysis (FIA) system for monitoring Fusarium solani pisi cutinase based on microencapsulation of p-nitrophenylbutyrate (p-NPB) in a micellar system (sodium cholate, tetrahydrofuran, phosphate buffer) was developed for monitoring this target enzyme at the outlet tube of the EBA column. Slight differences in yeast cultivation conditions during cutinase production may influence the fermentation performance, which affects directly the adsorption of cutinase during the loading step and consequently the efficiency of the EBA process. This effect can be especially relevant when it is necessary to stop the application of feedstock to the EBA column when the outlet concentration (A) of the desired product is lower than 5% of the feed concentration (A.). Excellent correlations between the FIA system and the off-line analytical method for monitoring cutinase activity during the different EBA steps were obtained. Additionally, the blocking/fouling of the sample injector and tubes of the FIA system initially observed were eliminated due to the excellent surfactant properties of the sodium cholate contained in the phosphate buffer and used to dilute the enzyme samples. This FIA system was shown to be a powerful analytical tool for monitoring cutinase activity almost in real time (45-60 s), maximizing enzyme adsorption while minimizing product loss and consequently maximizing the recovery yield of the product. (c) 2006 Society of Chemical Industry.