Production of fatty acid estolides
AssigneesStichting Wageningen Research, Technische Universiteit Delft
InventorsCarmen Gabriela Boeriu, Anamaria Todea, Isabella Wilhelmina Christina Everdina Arends, Ludwina Gerharda Otten
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Abstract
It has been found that esterification of a hydroxy-fatty acid by a lipase can be coupled with oleate hydratase (OHase) generation of that hydroxy-FA from an unsaturated FA with a cis C9-C10 double bond, e.g. oleic acid, in a single aqueous buffered reaction medium at low temperature, e.g. 30° C. A simple one-pot enzymatic method to produce fatty acid estolides from one or more triglycerides, e.g. starting from a natural plant oil, is thereby enabled in which the same lipase catalyses both the initial hydrolysis of triglyceride and the final esterification step.
Claims17
A method for producing one or more esters of one or more hydroxy-fatty acids comprising:
- providing in a single aqueous buffered, cell-free reaction medium at least one unsaturated fatty acid with a cis C9-C10 double bond;
- in a first reaction, reacting said at least one unsaturated fatty acid with a cis C9-C10 double bond in said aqueous buffered, cell-free reaction medium with an isolated cell-free oleate hydratase to produce at least one hydroxy-fatty acid;
- and
- in a second reaction, reacting said produced at least one hydroxy-fatty acid with an isolated lipase in said aqueous buffered, cell-free reaction medium to produce one or more esters of said at least one hydroxy-fatty acid;
- wherein the first reaction and the second reaction are carried out in situ at about pH 6 to 8.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.