Enzymatic transesterification for production of biodiesel using yeast lipases: An overview

• Greener production of biodiesel by enzymatic transesterification.
• Potential feedstocks that could be used as substrates for fatty acid alkyl esters.
• Optimum transesterification conditions for various yeast lipases.
• Utilization of whole cell as biocatalyst in the reaction.

Biodiesel has provided an eco-friendly solution to fuel crisis, as it is renewable, biodegradable and a non-toxic fuel that can be easily produced through enzymatic transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats. Enzymatic production of biodiesel has many advantages over the conventional methods as high yields can be obtained at low reaction temperatures with easy recovery of glycerol. Microbial lipases are powerful biocatalysts for industrial applications including biodiesel production at lower costs due to its potential in hydrolyzing waste industrial materials. Among them, lipases from yeasts, Candida antarctica, Candida rugosa, Cryptococcus sp., Trichosporon asahii and Yarrowia lipolytica are known to catalyze such reactions. Moreover, stepwise addition of methanol in a three step, two step and single step reactions have been developed using yeast lipases to minimize the inhibitory effects of methanol. The latest trend in biodiesel production is the use of whole-cell as biocatalysts, since the process requires no downstream processing of the enzyme. Synthesis of value added products from the byproduct glycerol further reduces the production cost of biodiesel. This review aims at compiling the information on various yeast lipase catalyzed transesterification reactions for greener production of biodiesel.