Abstract

In this communication, it was evaluated the production of fatty acid ethyl ester (FAAE) from the free fatty acids of babassu oil catalyzed by lipase fromRhizomucor miehei(RML) immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) coated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), Fe3O4@APTES-RML or RML-MNP for short. MNPs were prepared by co-precipitation coated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and used as a support to immobilize RML (immobilization yield: 94.7 +/- 1.0%; biocatalyst activity: 341.3 +/- 1.2 U-p(-NPB)/g), which were also activated with glutaraldehyde and then used to immobilize RML (immobilization yield: 91.9 +/- 0.2%; biocatalyst activity: 199.6 +/- 3.5 U-p(-NPB)/g). RML-MNP was characterized by X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD), Fourier Transform-Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), proving the incorporation and immobilization of RML on the APTES matrix. In addition, the immobilized biocatalyst presented at 60 degrees C a half-life 16-19 times greater than that of the soluble lipase in the pH range 5-10. RML and RML-MNP showed higher activity at pH 7; the immobilized enzyme was more active than the free enzyme in the pH range (5-10) analyzed. For the production of fatty acid ethyl ester, under optimal conditions [40 degrees C, 6 h, 1:1 (FFAs/alcohol)] determined by the Taguchi method, it was possible to obtain conversion of 81.7 +/- 0.7% using 5% of RML-MNP.