Immobilization of Rhizopus oryzae onto loofah sponge as a whole-cell biocatalyst to preparation of biodiesel from Comus wilsoniana fruit oil

In recent years, the application of whole-cell biocatalyst in biodiesel production has attracted great attention. Whole-cell catalyst avoids the cumbersome enzyme purification process and saves the preparation cost of the catalyst. Moreover, whole-cell biocatalyst has a long service life. In this study, a strain of Rhizopus oryzae with high lipase production was immobilized and applied. Different immobilization materials were selected and the suitable immobilization conditions were explored. The immobilized Rhizopus oryzae as the whole-cell catalyst was used to catalyze the preparation of biodiesel from Comus wilsoniana fruit oil. The effect of esterification conditions on the yield of biodiesel was discussed. The results showed that the immobilization rate and activity of the immobilized cells were the highest with the loofah sponge as the immobilization material, olive oil as carbon source,and peptone and NaNO3 as compound nitrogen source. In the reaction system of 10% water content and 12% catalyst dosage, the molar ratio of total alcohol to oil was 4∶1, methanol was added 1∶1 at 0h, 10h, 24h, 40h, respectively, and the yield of methyl ester was more than 94%. After the immobilized whole-cells were reused for 6 times, the transesterification acticity of immobilized cells remained above 80%. © 2022 Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.