An efficient biocatalyst Nocardia sp. lipase for transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. oil - Biodiesel production
Purushothaman Y Ma Jayavignesh V b Ramkumar G a Swaminathan K a*
Department of Plant Biotechnology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore-560065, Karnataka, India.
Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore-46, Tamilnadu. India.
Biodiesel obtained from vegetable oils as an alternative fuels for diesel engines dates back almost nine decades. But due to the rapid decline in crude oil reserves, commercial oils are again being promoted in many countries and also exploring practical substitutes for fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere. Jatropha curcas, a multipurpose, drought resistant, perennial plant belonging to Euphorbiaceae family is gaining a lot of importance for the production of biodiesel. Jatropha kernel has 60 % oil content which can be transformed into biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) fuel through transesterification.The most common transesterification mechanism is base catalyzed transesterification employing sodium hydroxide. Base catalyzed transesterification has many disadvantages like production of toxic wastewater that poses serious threat to the human and aquatic life. To overcome this problem, lipases (triacylglycerol hydrolases EC 3.1.1.3) are used as a biocatalyst in transesterification reactions to produce green biodiesel. The present work is to employ microbial lipases for the transesterification of Jatropha curcas oil to produce biodiesel. Actinomycetes isolated from Western Ghats were screened for lipase production. The organism producing maximum lipase was identified as Nocardia sp and the culture conditions for maximum enzyme production were optimized and purified by column chromatography.The stability of the enzyme at different pH, temperature, solvents, detergents and metal ions concentration was analyzed. The purified enzyme was thus used for enzymatic transesterification reactions. Standardization of the lipase mediated biodiesel production using Jatropha curcas oil was carried out in lab scale process. Methyl ester formation was monitored using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Immobilization of lipase onto magnetically retrievable nanocatalysts was also adopted to study the immobilization efficiency and reusability towards transesterification process. Biodiesel thus produced by green catalysis will be finally analyzed for its fuel properties by ASTM methods to ensure better performance in diesel engines.
Biography
I Dr.Y.M.Purushothaman completed my PhD at the age of 27 years from Bharathiar University and working as a Senior Research Fellow in University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. I have submitted 10 sequences in NCBI with accession number and manuscript under preparation for 3 papers in reputed journals. Presented my research findings in national and international conferences around the globe.
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Full name: Dr.Y.M.Purushothaman
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