Biodiesel production from crude jatropha oil catalyzed by immobilized lipase/acyltransferase from Candida parapsilosis in aqueous medium.

The lipase/acyltransferase from Candida parapsilosis (CpLIP2) immobilized on two synthetic resins (Accurel MP 1000 and Lewatit VP OC 1600) was used as catalyst for the production of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters, FAME) by transesterification of jatropha oil with methanol, in a lipid/aqueous system. The oil was dispersed in a buffer solution (pH 6.5) containing methanol in excess (2M in the biphasic system; molar ratio methanol/acyl chains 2:1). Transesterification was carried out at 30°C, under magnetic stirring, using 10% (w/w) of immobilized enzyme in relation to oil. The maximum FAME yields were attained after 8h reaction time: 80.5% and 93.8%, when CpLIP2 immobilized on Accurel MP 1000 or on Lewatit VP OC 1600 were used, respectively. CpLIP2 on both Accurel MP 1000 and Lewatit VP OC 1600 showed high operational stability along 5 consecutive 8h batches.