An Intensified Esterification Process of Palm Oil Fatty Acid Distillate Catalyzed by Delipidated Rice Bran Lipase

Fui Chin Chong,Nordin Ibrahim,Tau Chuan Ling,Zanariah Mohd Dom,Russly Abd Rahman,Beng Ti Tey

doi:10.1100/tsw.2006.213

Fui Chin Chong, Nordin Ibrahim + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2006.213

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Journal: TheScientificWorldJournal	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2006
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 3.0

Affiliation: Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abstract

An intensified esterification process was operated by circulating 10 l of reaction mixtures, consisting of palm oil fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and glycerol in hexane, through a packed-bed reactor (PBR) filled with 10 kg of delipidated rice bran lipase (RBL). The influence of the process parameters, such as reaction temperature and type of water-removal agent, on the performance of this intensified esterification process were investigated. The highest degree of esterification (61%) was achieved at a reaction temperature of 65°C, using silica gels as the water-removal agent. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis showed that the major composition of the esterified product was diacylglycerol.

Highlights

Medium-chain acylglycerols, a mixture of mono, di, and triacylglycerols, are important ingredients for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries
The esterification activity of immobilized rice bran lipases (RBL) in the packed-bed reactor (PBR) increased as the reaction temperature increased from 45 to 65oC (Fig. 3)
The lowest temperature used in this study was 45oC due to the fact that the source of free fatty acids used in this study, palm oil fatty acid distillate (PFAD), crystallizes at temperatures below 45oC[4]

Summary

Introduction

Medium-chain acylglycerols, a mixture of mono-, di-, and triacylglycerols, are important ingredients for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Diacylglycerol is widely used in the formulation of traditional foods and in obesity-management diets[1] Medium-chain acylglycerols can be produced from the esterification of free fatty acid and glycerol. This esterification process is usually catalyzed by microbial lipase. After a delipidation process, its stability was substantially improved[4] This delipidation process has permitted the use of RBL as a biocatalyst in the esterification of palm oil fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and glycerol to produce medium-chain acylglycerols[4]. The PFAD is a by-product from the local palm oil refineries, and it has been previously used as a source of free fatty acids for the production of acylglycerol by other researchers[4,5]

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