A comparative study of chemical and enzymatic interesterification for bioparaffin production from soybean oil

This work focuses on the production of bioparaffins, intended as a substitute for mineral paraffins, derived from partially hydrogenated and interesterified soybean oil mixtures. Chemical interesterification using sodium methoxide and enzymatic interesterification employing a supported lipase are comparatively studied. The synthesized materials were thoroughly characterized, including chemical composition analyses, thermal properties, crystalline structure, and texture. It was observed that both interesterifications produced a decrease in trisaturated and an increase in disaturated-monounsaturated triglycerides. Mono, diglycerides, methyl esters and free fatty acids were also identified as by products. Thus, the interesterification reaction produces materials with lower melting temperatures and improved plasticity compared to the initial mixtures, within the range of commercial mineral paraffins.