A fluorometric enzymatic assay for quantification of steryl glucosides in biodiesel

ANDRES AGUIRRE; MATIAS CABRUJA; RODOLFO CABRERA; FLORENCIA EBERHARDT; SALVADOR PEIRU; HUGO MENZELLA; RODOLFO RASIA

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS SOCIETY (JAOCS)

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2015 vol. 92 p. 47 - 53

0003-021X

Background. Steryl glucosides are common contaminants in biodiesel that form precipitates during transport and storage. Their quantification is therefore necessary to assess the quality of this fuel. The methods currently available for SG quantification require expensive instrumentation, are time consuming, need a previous concentration step by solid-phase extraction (SPE) or are of limited use for the quantitative assessment of SG content. Results. We devised an enzymatic method for steryl glucosides quantification in biodiesel samples based on the reaction of the glucoside with a promiscuous beta glucosidase and the subsequent determination of glucose released in the reaction. The method is non-expensive, sensitive and it can be run on a 96-well format fluorescence plate reader, making it useful for the parallel assay of multiple samples. Conclusions. The enzymatic assay presented here will be a valuable tool for quality control of biodiesel samples, but also in the development of improved biodiesel production and purification procedures.