Kinetics modeling of the acidolysis with immobilized Rhizomucor miehei lipases for production of structured lipids from sunflower oil

• Immobilized RML was used in acidolysis of sunflower oil and saturated fatty acids.
• Acidolysis kinetic was studied employing different mathematical models.
• The immobilization process improved the catalytic performance of free lipases avoiding the lag phase.
• A model based on lipase sn-1,3 specificity described successfully experimental data.
• An acyl migration reaction was considered in a new model.

Sunflower oil modification for production of semisolid fats was carried out via acidolysis using palmitic and stearic acids (P + St), hexane and a developed biocatalyst from Rhizomucor miehei lipases. Its kinetic behavior was studied by employing three mathematical models proposed in the literature. Furthermore, a new model was proposed to describe not only the variation of triacylglycerols (TAG), diacylglycerols (DAG), and free fatty acids groups but also the acyl migration reaction occurrence. The effect of the reaction temperature on the kinetic and equilibrium parameters, as well as TAG and reaction intermediates profiles was analyzed. Increasing reaction temperature generated major changes in the overall composition of acylglycerols and gave rise to the highest composition of P + St in the obtained structured lipids (58%, 70 h, 60 °C). P + St incorporation was successfully adjusted by an empirical model (Model I) and a lumped parameter model (Model II) for all the studied reaction times, while the model based on a Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism (Model III) was only able to describe the kinetics behavior (through the variation of reactant saturated fatty acids concentration) until 24 h. Experimental data were fit satisfactorily by the proposed model (Model IV), showing that the increment in the disaturated TAG formation achieved by the increment in temperature was principally related to the favored DAG formation from triunsaturated TAG.

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