Sustainable Castor Bean Biodiesel Through Ricinus communis L. Lipase Extract Catalysis

• Published in: Applied biochemistry and biotechnology Vol. 195; no. 2; pp. 1297 - 1318
• Main Authors: Rivas, Alejandro González, Vázquez, Verónica Ávila, Flores, Miguel Mauricio Aguilera, Cerrillo-Rojas, Gloria Viviana, Correa-Aguado, Hans Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Autocatalysis; Beans; Biochemistry; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Biofuels - analysis; Biotechnology; Castor Oil; Catalysis; Catalytic activity; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Climate change; Depletion; Diesel; Energy demand; Enzymatic activity; Esterification; Global warming; Hydrolysis; Lipase; Lipase - metabolism; Moisture effects; Nonrenewable resources; Olive Oil; Original Article; Plant Extracts; Plant Oils; Production costs; Ricinus communis; Ricinus communis - metabolism; Transesterification; Vegetable oils; Enzymatic transesterification; Hydrolytic activity; Whole-cell catalysis; Biofuels; Castor feedstock
• ISSN: 0273-2289; 1559-0291
• DOI: 10.1007/s12010-022-04238-3

The rise in oil prices, global warming, and the depletion of nonrenewable resources have led researchers to study sustainable alternatives to increasing energy demand. The autocatalysis from castor oil and castor lipases to produce biodiesel can be an excellent alternative to reduce the production costs and avoid the drawbacks of chemical transesterification. This study aimed to evaluate the catalytic activity of castor bean lipase extract (CBLE) on three vegetable oils hydrolysis, to obtain and enhance biodiesel yield by an autocatalysis from castor oil and CBLE. Furthermore, the enzymatic biodiesel physicochemical quality was analyzed. The enzymatic activity for olive oil was 76.12 U, 90.06 U for commercial castor oil, and 75.60 U in raw castor oil. The hydrolysis percentages were high at 25 °C, pH 4.5, for 4 h with 97.18% for olive oil, 98.86%, and 96.19% for commercial and raw castor oil, respectively. The CBLE catalyzed the transesterification reaction on castor oil to obtain 82.91% biodiesel yield under the selected conditions of 20% lipase loading, 1:6 oil/methanol molar ratio, and 10% buffer pH 4.5, 37 °C for 8 h. The castor biodiesel quality satisfied the ASTM-D6751 (USA) and EN-14214 (European Union) values, except for the density, viscosity, and moisture, as expected for this kind of biodiesel. Graphical Abstract