Transesterification of fish oil by lipase immobilized in supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

We have investigated the efficiency of the production of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich diglycerides, monoglycerides, and ethyl esters and measured the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) density on inhibiting the production rates in the presence of excess ethanol. In contrast to a solvent-free system, the SC-CO2 system enhanced the decomposition rate of triglycerides and the production rates of diglycerides, monoglycerides, and ethyl esters, regardless of the presence of excess ethanol. The highest conversion was achieved at 10.0 MPa with 3 wt% of Lipozyme® TL-IM at 50 °C and 3.0 molar ratio of ethanol:menhaden oil. The reaction rate and dead-end inhibition were determined at different SC-CO2 densities at a constant temperature. Our results show that SC-CO2 reduces reduce dead-end inhibition in the presence of excess ethanol and increases the reaction rate of lipase due to the specific properties of SC-CO2.