ARS | Publication request: PRODUCTION OF ALKYL ESTERS BY A PHYLLOSILICATE SOL-GEL IMMOBILIZED LIPASE FROM PSEUDOMONAS CEPACIA

Submitted to: Food Science and Biotechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 26, 2003
Publication Date: September 1, 2003
Citation: Lee, J., DiCiccio, R.J., Hsu, A.C., Lee, K., Foglia, T.A. 2003. Production of alkyl esters by a phyllosilicate sol-gel immobilized lipase from pseudomonas capacia. Food Science and Biotechnology. 12(4):342-345.

Interpretive Summary: Simple esters (methyl and ethyl) of animal fats and vegetable oils are used as diesel fuel alternatives. These esters, called biodiesel, are valued because they improve diesel engine emissions and they are viewed as environmentally benign products. Current chemical routes used for making simple esters of fats and oils have several associated problems that can adversely affect biodiesel production. This paper addresses these problems by describing an alternative enzymatic approach for producing these esters. This enzymatic approach to making esters has an additional advantage of being able to make higher esters from fats and oils. Such esters have better cold-temperature properties than the traditional methyl esters used for biodiesel. This enzymatic process for producing esters of fats and oils has the potential of not only improving the economics of biofuel production from renewable agricultural commodities but also of expanding their use in other arenas such as in the chemical, flavor, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Technical Abstract: Lipase PS-30 from Pseudomonas cepacia was immobilized within a phyllosilicate sol-gel matrix and its esterification activity compared to the commercial immobilized lipases, papain, lipase L-2, and IM60. Immobilized lipase PS-30 (IM-PS30) had good alcoholysis activity for tallow using ethanol (315 U) and butanol (275 U) but poor activity with isopropanol (31 U) at a molar ratio of 1:3 (tallow:alcohol). On the other hand, lipase IM60 (immobilized lipase from Rhizomucor meihei) showed high esterification activity for the normal alcohols (318 U) and lipase L-2 the best esterification activity with isopropanol (319 U). For the lipase studied, alkyl ester production reached equilibrium within the first 2-6 hr of alcoholysis. In this study, the IM PS-30 catalyst produced the highest the yield of the simple esters from tallow.