Abstract

The main obstacle to using lipase as a catalyst in industrial scale biodiesel production is the cost and availability of the enzyme. To overcome this obstacle, the potential of using a whole cell biocatalyst (for at least partial in situ lipase production) was evaluated as a means to reduce the cost of the lipase. The reaction conditions for biodiesel production via transesterification between Jatropha curcas (physic nut) oil and methanol when catalyzed in the presence of lipase-producing Aureobasidium pullulans yeast cells was investigated. The appropriate conditions for optimal biodiesel production were found to be 1:3 oil:methanol molar ratio at 30°C with constant stirring at 250 rpm. Under these conditions a maximum fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) production level of 71.8% was obtained after 72 h.

Key words: Lipase, Aureobasidium pullulans, physic nut oil, biodiesel, green energy.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: FAME, Fatty acid methyl esters; CFUs, colony forming units; BSA,bovine serum albumin; p-NPL, p-nitrophenyl laurate; p-NP, p-nitrophenol; YMA, yeast malt extract agar plates; HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography; GC, gas chromatography.