Enzymatic transesterification of coconut oil by using immobilized lipase on biochar: An experimental and molecular docking study

Abstract

Guava seed biochar appears as a new alternative of the effective support to the immobilization of Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) by physical adsorption. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of this immobilized biocatalyst in the transesterification reaction of crude coconut oil and ethanol and to understand the mechanism of the reaction through the study of molecular docking. The best loading of BCL was determined to be 0.15 genzyme/gsupport having a hydrolytic activity of 260 U/g and 54% immobilization yield. The products of transesterification reaction produced a maximum yield at 40 °C under different reaction conditions. The monoacylglycerols (MAGs) conversion of 59% was using substrate molar ratio oil:ethanol of 1:7 with the reaction time of 24 H. In addition, the highest ethyl esters yield (48%) had the molar ratio of 1:7 with the reaction time of 96 H and maximum conversion of diacylglycerols (DAGs) was 30% with the molar ratio of 1:6 with the reaction time of 24 H. Molecular Docking was applied to clarify the mechanisms of transesterification reaction at the molecular level. MAGs and DAGs are compounds with excellent emulsifying properties used in industrial production of several bioproducts such as cosmetic, pharmaceuticals, foods, and lubricants.

Potential Use of Crude Coffee Silverskin Oil in Integrated Bioprocess for Fatty Acids Production

“…Additional benefits of docking analysis include increased process selectivity in combination with a less expensive bioprocess design due to a reduced number of exploratory experiments (Ghasemi et al, 2017). Previously, docking studies on ligand‐protein complexes using molecular docking experiments were successful at revealing specific interactions between lipases and fatty acids, supporting the experimental results obtained (Almeida et al, 2020; Brandão et al, 2020).…”

Biodiesel Production Using Homogeneous, Heterogeneous, and Enzyme Catalysts via Transesterification and Esterification Reactions: a Critical Review

“…The reversibility of this method makes it the most widely used immobilization technique. The support matrix’s porosity and surface area are important for adsorption [ 114 ]. The pore diameters tending towards the molecular scale , microporous (< 2 nm) materials are not large enough to successfully accommodate protein molecules whose size ranges from 2 to 10 nm on the carrier matrix.…”

“…After the seventh cycle, the enzyme retained 36% of its initial activity at 45 °C and 15% at 55 °C. Almeida et al [ 114 ] immobilized a Burkholderia cepacia lipase on guava seed biochar, a new, effective alternative support material. The maximum yield of 48% biodiesel was achieved at the optimum conditions of 40 °C, 7:1 ethanol to coconut oil molar ratio, and 96 h using the immobilized catalyst.…”

Computational Assessment of Botrytis cinerea Lipase for Biofuel Production

“…The resultant affinity energy values of the lipase with triglycerides were consistent, and even greater than recently reported in the literature. Lower affinity values exhibit higher interactions between the fatty acid and the lipases [45,46]. The docking affinity values of the lipase, with different fatty acids, such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, lauric acid, and myristic acid, were −5.9, −3.7, −3.5, and −3.2 kcal/mol, respectively.…”