Degrades bioactive fatty acid amides, such as N-palmitoylethanolamine, to ethanolamine and free fatty acids. H2O + N-hexadecanoylethanolamine = ethanolamine + hexadecanoate H2O + N-(long-chain fatty acyl)ethanolamine = a long-chain fatty acid + ethanolamine Lipid metabolism; fatty acid metabolism. Heterodimer of an alpha and a beta subunit, produced by autocatalytic cleavage. N-glycosylated. Autoproteolytic cleavage at pH 4.5 gives rise to the alpha and beta subunit (PubMed:30301806). Cleavage gives rise to a conformation change that activates the enzyme. The same catalytic Cys residue mediates the autoproteolytic cleavage and subsequent hydrolysis of lipid substrates (By similarity). Belongs to the acid ceramidase family.