Biocatalyzed esterification of oleic acid using cell suspension and dried biomass of Aspergillus sp. RBD01

Esterification is an industrially important reaction in the field of food and fuel industries. In biofuel and allied industries, long-chain alkyl esters are generally produced from different fat rich feedstocks including non-edible oils, acid oils, and tallow, using a variety of catalysts. Amongst these, whole cell systems have prominently been explored in recent past. The present study focused on the use of Aspergillus sp. RBD01 as a whole cell catalyst, in dry and whole cell suspension, to esterify oleic acid with different alcohols as acyl acceptors. Esterification with dried biomass resulted in better conversion of oleic acid to its respective ester as compared to cell suspension. Further, increase in chain length of alcohol resulted in decrease in the yield from ethyl oleate (98% EO) to decyl oleate (77% DO) with alcohols having an even number of carbon atoms giving better yield of esters over alcohols with odd numbers.