José Osvaldo Beserra Carioca

Lipases are biocatalysts of great importance in different areas, being able to catalyze reactions in aqueous or organic media. Furthermore, these enzymes are capable of using several substrates being stable in a wide range of pH and temperatures. Lipases promote the esterification between fatty acids and ethanol producing oleate esters. The aim of this work is to produce ethyl oleate ester by enzymatic esterification of oleic acid with ethanol. A lipase from Candida antarctica type B was used at a temperature of 55 °C. The reaction was conducted using oleic acid, sodium sulfate anhydrous, lipase and ethanol, with a ratio of oleic acid (0.03 mol or 10 ml), lipase (0.1 mol or 0.01 g), sodium sulfate anhydrous (5 g) and ethanol 99 % (100 ml). Several reaction times were studied, namely 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H and 13C) and Infrared spectra confirmed the production of ethyl oleate ester for the studied conditions. The highest ethyl oleate production yield was obtained for 96 hours reaction time. Ethyl oleate esters have been reported to possess interesting applications in several industrial fields, such as food, aromatics, cosmetics, detergents, flavors and pharmaceuticals.