Obtaining hydrolysate from macauba oil and its application in the production of methyl esters

Abstract

This work aimed to obtain a hydrolyzate rich in free fatty acids (FFA) from the hydrolysis of macauba oil for subsequent esterification and obtaining of methyl esters. To determine the conditions that maximize FFA yield in the hydrolysis step, the effects of buffer solution percentage and catalyst concentration (Lipozyme® RM IM) were determined at 55 ºC and 6 h. From the results, it was verified that both variables evaluated in the experimental range had an influence on the reaction and their increase favored the production of FFA. Additional experiments were carried out to assess the influence of reaction time with a progressive increase up to 8 h. Hydrolyzate with ~92 wt % FFA was obtained and its use in the enzymatic esterification step using Novozym® 435 as catalyst resulted in ~95 % FFA conversion. Regarding the reuse of enzymes at each stage, a ~50 % reduction in FFA yield was found and only 98 % FFA conversion.