Demystifying the enzymatic biodiesel: How lipases are contributing to its technological advances

The enzymatic route for preparing biodiesel mediated by lipases (EC 3.1.1.3, triacylglycerol ester hydrolases) constitutes one of the main alternatives for biofuel synthesis. The possibility of processing materials with a high degree of impurities as well as mild reaction conditions attracted the attention of researchers. However, it is usual the association of determined drawbacks to the enzymatic process, which in a way tends to be a disincentive to its application on a scale larger than laboratory one. Disadvantages such as the high cost of the biocatalysts and inhibition of their catalytic capacity in the presence of alcohols are some points that have been verified. Nonetheless, the development of more robust lipases, with different formulations, as well as alternative reaction configurations, turned the aforementioned process weaknesses outpaced. In this context, this review aims to demystify the production of biodiesel via enzymatic catalysis, highlighting that the virtues, advantages, and novel technologies developed outweigh the disadvantages often associated with such technology. For this, current low-value-aggregated raw materials capable of being processed through the enzymatic route, recent alternative techniques proposed to increase the process efficiency, data related to production costs as well as contemporary industrial applications of the enzymatic route to biodiesel preparation are presented.