Acidity reduction of mammalian fat by enzymatic esterification

This work studies the mammalian fat acidity reduction, through enzymatic esterification with ethanol for converting FFA into esters. The fat samples collected in a Portuguese company were characterized for their acid value, iodine value, density, kinematic viscosity and moisture content. Four commercial enzymes were tested as catalyst. Lipozyme CALB L contributed to highest acidity reduction. It was selected for the parametric study of the best operating conditions: 45 ºC of temperature, enzyme/fat and ethanol/FFA mass ratios of respectively0.0060 and 3.25wt/wt, which reduced 67 % the acidity in just one reaction step, after 3 h of reaction time.