8-55: Catalytic performance of the whole cell lipase derived from Mucor circinelloides for ethyl esters production from vegetable oils

The catalytic performance of the immobilized Mucor circinelloides URM 4182 whole cells was investigated in the ethanolysis of feedstocks having different profile of fatty acids, such as babassu, macaw palm, coconut, Jatropha curcas and andiroba oils. M. circinelloides URM 4182 cells were immobilized within polyurethane foam particles during batch cultivation in medium containing olive oil at 30°C and pH 6.5. The whole cells biocatalyst was added at fixed proportion of 20% in relation to the total weight of reactants involved in the reaction medium containing oil and ethanol (molar ratio 1:8) and tert-butanol as solvent at 35ºC. Under the conditions used, the biocatalyst showed consistent selectivity by producing corresponding ester from each fatty acid.  All feedstocks were found to be appropriate for biodiesel production, attained high transesterification yields (90.7 to 98.5%), although higher yields were obtained with rich lauric acid oils. Further information on the quality of the biodiesel samples was obtained by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), viscosimetry and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. These results indicate the potential of the immobilized M. circinelloides URM 4182 whole cells as a low cost alternative to conventional biocatalysts in biodiesel production.