Abstract Candida antarctica Lipase B (CALB) immobilized onto iron magnetic nanoparticles was evaluated as biocatalyst for the synthesis of flavor esters. Methyl and ethyl butyrate were synthesized by esterification of butyric acid with methanol and ethanol, respectively, in a medium containing solvent. The nanoparticles were produced by the co-precipitation method. The process parameters (type of solvent, temperature, substrate concentration, molar ratio, amount of biocatalyst, stirring speed and reaction time) were studied. The optimum conditions for both esters were achieved at 25 °C, 0.5 mol/L (methyl butyrate) and 0.4 mol/L (ethyl butyrate), molar ratio of 1:1, amount of biocatalyst: 10 mg, 150 rpm and 8 h of reaction, using heptane as solvent. Under those conditions, the maximum conversions of methyl butyrate and ethyl butyrate were higher than 90 %. The synthesis of flavor esters was also conducted by using Novozym® 435, a commercial catalyst, for comparison purposes.

Abstract Superparamagnetic nanomaterials have attracted interest in many areas due to the high saturation magnetization and surface area. For enzyme immobilization, these properties favor the enzyme-support contact during the immobilization reaction and easy separation from the reaction mixture by use of low-cost magnetic processes. Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4, MNPs), produced by the co-precipitation method, functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and glutaraldehyde (GLU), were evaluated as a solid support for Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) immobilization. The nanomagnetic derivative (11nm) obtained after CALB immobilization (MNPs/APTES/GLU/CALB) was evaluated as biocatalyst in isoniazide (INH) synthesis using ethyl isonicotinate (INE) and hydrazine hydrate (HID) as substrates, in 1,4-dioxane. The results showed that MNPs/APTES/CALB had a similar performance when compared to a commercial enzyme Novozym 435, showing significant advantages over other biocatalysts, such as Rhizhomucor miehei lipase (RML) and CALB immobilized on non-conventional, low-cost, chitosan-based supports.

In this study, the phase behaviour of emulsified systems (oil + biosurfactant + water) was analyzed. The biosurfactant was produced in a 4-L batch bioreactor by Bacillus subtilis LAMI005, using residual glycerine from biodiesel production as a carbon source. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analyses demonstrated that the biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis (LAMI005) consists of a lipopeptide similar to surfactin. The influences of temperature and the composition of oil + biosurfactant + water were determined by using phase diagrams. Three types of oil were used, namely: motor oil, hydrogenated naphthenic oil (NH140) and castor bean oil. The emulsified systems were analyzed using optical micrography. The results presented here indicated that the biosurfactant produced in this work presents a potential use as stabilizing agent for oil-in-water emulsions.