Ultrasound irradiation promoted efficient solvent-free lipase-catalyzed production of mono- and diacylglycerols from olive oil.

This work reports the enzymatic production of mono- and diacylglycerols under the influence of ultrasound irradiation, in a solvent-free system, with and without the presence of surfactants at a constant temperature of 65°C, glycerol to oil molar ratio of 2:1 and a commercial immobilized lipase (Novozym 435) as catalyst. For this purpose, two operation modes were adopted: the use of a sonotrode (ultrasonic probe), without agitation, varying reaction time, irradiation amplitude (25-45% of the total power) and type of surfactant, and a mechanically stirred reactor (600 rpm) under ultrasound irradiation in a water bath, testing different surfactants. Results show that very satisfactory MAG and DAG yields, above 50 wt.%, can be obtained without the use of surfactant, at mild irradiation power supply (∼130 W), with no important enzyme activity losses verified, in a relatively short reaction time (2h), and low enzyme content (7.5 wt.%). Also, reaction kinetic results show that contents of MAG+DAG as high as ∼65 wt.% can be achieved at longer times (6h), indicating a promising route for producing MAG and DAG using ultrasound irradiation.