Biocatalytic Valorization of Used Soybean Cooking Oil for Furfuryl Esters Production: Effects of Alcohol Feeding Strategy and Water Removal on Immobilized Lipase Performance and Stability
- 1Universidade Federal de Alfenas , , , ,
- 2Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais , , ,
- 3Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica , , , ,
Abstract
This study describes an efficient biocatalytic process for the synthesis of furfuryl esters from used soybean cooking oil (USCO). The process involves the hydrolysis of USCO using free Candida rugosa lipase, followed by solvent-free esterification of the resulting free fatty acids (FFAs) with furfuryl alcohol (FA) catalyzed by immobilized lipase Eversa Transform 2.0 (ET2.0). Five supports, including acid-treated rice husks with fine (FRH) and coarse (CRH) particle sizes, commercial and rice husk-derived octyl-functionalized silica, and poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (PSty-DVB), were evaluated for ET2.0 immobilization by physical adsorption. Among the evaluated supports, PSty-DVB provided the highest immobilized protein loading (31.3 ± 1.1 mg g–1) and the best overall catalytic performance in furfuryl esters synthesis. Using this biocatalyst, FFAs conversion reached approximately 94% within 60 min at 45 °C under solvent-free conditions and with a slight excess of FA (FFAs:FA molar ratio of 1:1.15). The combination of stepwise furfuryl alcohol feeding and molecular sieves for in situ water removal improved biocatalyst operational stability, allowing the retention of approximately 95% of the initial activity after 15 consecutive esterification cycles. These results show that ET2.0 immobilized on PSty-DVB is a suitable biocatalyst for the solvent-free conversion of waste-derived fatty acids into furfuryl esters.
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BibTeX
@article{sabi2026biocatalytic,
title = {{Biocatalytic Valorization of Used Soybean Cooking Oil for Furfuryl Esters Production: Effects of Alcohol Feeding Strategy and Water Removal on Immobilized Lipase Performance and Stability}},
author = {Guilherme J. Sabi and Lucas A. Moreira and Gisele Amaral-Labat and Roberto Fernandez-Lafuente and Adriano A. Mendes},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c09174},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/doi/10.1021/acsomega.6c09174/5463344/Biocatalytic-Valorization-of-Used-Soybean-Cooking},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Biocatalytic Valorization of Used Soybean Cooking Oil for Furfuryl Esters Production: Effects of Alcohol Feeding Strategy and Water Removal on Immobilized Lipase Performance and Stability
AU - Guilherme J. Sabi
AU - Lucas A. Moreira
AU - Gisele Amaral-Labat
AU - Roberto Fernandez-Lafuente
AU - Adriano A. Mendes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c09174
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/doi/10.1021/acsomega.6c09174/5463344/Biocatalytic-Valorization-of-Used-Soybean-Cooking
AB - This study describes an efficient biocatalytic process for the synthesis of furfuryl esters from used soybean cooking oil (USCO). The process involves the hydrolysis of USCO using free Candida rugosa lipase, followed by solvent-free esterification of the resulting free fatty acids (FFAs) with furfuryl alcohol (FA) catalyzed by immobilized lipase Eversa Transform 2.0 (ET2.0). Five supports, including acid-treated rice husks with fine (FRH) and coarse (CRH) particle sizes, commercial and rice husk-derived octyl-functionalized silica, and poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (PSty-DVB), were evaluated for ET2.0 immobilization by physical adsorption. Among the evaluated supports, PSty-DVB provided the highest immobilized protein loading (31.3 ± 1.1 mg g–1) and the best overall catalytic performance in furfuryl esters synthesis. Using this biocatalyst, FFAs conversion reached approximately 94% within 60 min at 45 °C under solvent-free conditions and with a slight excess of FA (FFAs:FA molar ratio of 1:1.15). The combination of stepwise furfuryl alcohol feeding and molecular sieves for in situ water removal improved biocatalyst operational stability, allowing the retention of approximately 95% of the initial activity after 15 consecutive esterification cycles. These results show that ET2.0 immobilized on PSty-DVB is a suitable biocatalyst for the solvent-free conversion of waste-derived fatty acids into furfuryl esters.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -