Semina: Ciências Exatas e Tecnológicas (May 2014)
Obtention of Free Fatty Acids of Macauba Oil (Acrocomia Aculeata) in Organic Solvent Free System
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the enzymatic hydrolysis of oil Macaúba, to obtain a hydrolyzate rich in free fatty acids (FFA) for later use in step esterification. The effect of process variables (percentage of catalyst, temperature and water content) was evaluated in the FFA yield, using a factorial experimental design 23, where the positive and significant effect of the variables was observed. The results reported yields of 50.5% in FFA in 6 hours of reaction at 60ºC, water percentage of 15 wt% and catalyst percentage of 5 wt%.
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