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- Title
Solvent-free enzymatic production of high quality cetyl esters.
- Authors
Serrano-Arnaldos, Mar; Máximo-Martín, María; Montiel-Morte, María; Ortega-Requena, Salvadora; Gómez-Gómez, Elisa; Bastida-Rodríguez, Josefa
- Abstract
A solvent-free biocatalytic process for the synthesis of high quality cetyl laurate, myristate, palmitate and stearate has been optimized. This enzymatic procedure follows the fundamental principles of the Green Chemistry and lead to sustainable products, which can be labeled as natural and conform to the principal requirements for its use in high value-added goods. The four esters selected are the main components of spermaceti, a mixture of waxes very appreciated in cosmetic and pharmacy because of its physical properties and emolliency, which was formerly extracted from the head of the sperm whales. In this paper, the influence of the amount of biocatalyst, the commercially available Novozym 435, and the temperature were studied in an open-air batch reactor before carrying out the synthesis in a high performance vacuum reactor with dry nitrogen input to shift the equilibrium towards product formation. Under optimal conditions, conversion was higher than 98.5 %. The characterization of the enzymatic cetyl esters puts in evidence that these are ultra-pure compounds, which have similar properties to the ones obtained through the conventional industrial processes with the extra benefit of being environmentally friendly.
- Subjects
STEARATES; BIOCATALYSIS; WAX esters; IMMOBILIZED enzymes; LIPASES
- Publication
Bioprocess & Biosystems Engineering, 2016, Vol 39, Issue 4, p641
- ISSN
1615-7591
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00449-016-1545-5