| Summary: | Sugar fatty acid esters are biodegradable surface active compounds in foodstuffs and cosmetics or Pharmaceuticals. They have potential in replacing pollutant chemically synthesized surfactants. The enzymatic synthesis of fructose palmitate catalyzed by Candida antarctica B lipase was performed in different organic media in a batch reactor at atmospheric pressure. The influence of the organic solvent and temperature on the esterification was studied. Since supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO2) has several advantages over organic solvents, such as high reaction rate, high mass transfer non-toxicity, non-flammability and low price, it was also chosen as a reaction medium for fructose palmitate production. The influence of temperature on immobilized lipase activity was studied at 10 MPa and the results were compared to the results obtained from reactions performed at atmospheric pressure under the same reaction conditions. The highest conversion (67%) was obtained after 24 hours of reaction in SC CO2 at 80oC. A change of the particle size distribution and morphology of the untreated lipase and lipase treated with 2-methyl 2-butanol and SC SO2 was observed.
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