Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 518–521 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Industrial Crops and Products journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop Characterization of Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. oil and properties of methyl esters for use as biodiesel K. Teixeira da Silva de La Salles a , S.M.P. Meneghetti b,∗ , W. Ferreira de La Salles a , M.R. Meneghetti b , I.C.F. dos Santos b , J.P.V. da Silva b , S.H.V. de Carvalho c , J.I. Soletti c a Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Departamento de Tecnologia Química, São Luis, Maranhão, CEP 65080-580, Brazil b Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Instituto de Química e Biotecnologia, Laboratório de Oleoquímica, Maceió, Alagoas, CEP 57072-970, Brazil c Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Engenharia Química, Maceió, Alagoas, CEP 57072-970, Brazil article info Article history: Received 25 April 2010 Received in revised form 22 June 2010 Accepted 29 June 2010 Keywords: Biodiesel Syagrus coronate (Mart.) Becc. oil Ouricuri Licuri Transesterification Fuel properties abstract The investigation of alternative sources of triglycerides suitable for the synthesis of biodiesel, obtained from species adapted to semi-arid lands is currently a very important challenge for Brazilian researchers. In this work we carried out studies with the fruits of the Syagrus coronate (Mart.) Becc., popularly known in Brazil as “licuri” or “ouricuri”. The aim of this study was the evaluation of some properties and chemical composition of the oil, as well to explore their potential application in biodiesel production. The oil was obtained from the fruit, with yields of 39% (mass%). The crude oil of the S. coronata was transesterified, using a conventional catalysts and methanol, to obtain biodiesel. The properties of the biodiesel produced are comparable with those commonly accepted for use as biodiesel. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Due to the increasing demand for energy with environmental quality and economical viability, several researches concentrate their efforts to develop renewable energy sources to replace grad- ually fossil diesel. Although vegetable oils can be used directly to replace nor- mal diesel fuel, the high viscosities of the crude oils limit their application (Kulkarni and Sawant, 2003). One strategy that can be employed to overcome this problem is to convert the fatty acids (free and bound) into either their alkyl esters (FAAEs) derivatives which have much reduced viscosities. Transesterification of the crude oil can be carried out using acids, alkalis or enzymes as cat- alysts (Freedman et al., 1984; Fukuda et al., 2001; Bondioli, 2004; Ma and Hanna, 1999; Suarez et al., 2007). Several studies are available in the literature concerning the transesterification of unconventional vegetable oils to biodiesel obtention (Neto et al., 2000; Meneghetti et al., 2006, 2008; Sarin et al., 2010; Oliveira et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2009; Xu and Hanna, 2009; Yang et al., 2009; Silva et al., 2010) and articles of review can be ∗ Corresponding author at: Instituto de Química e Biotecnologia, Avenida Lourival de Melo Mota, s/n ◦ , Cidade Universitária, Maceió, Alagoas, CEP 57072-000, Brazil. Tel.: +55 82 3214 1373; fax: +55 82 3214 1384. E-mail address: simoni.plentz@gmail.com (S.M.P. Meneghetti). found (Ma and Hanna, 1999; Fukuda et al., 2001; Naik et al., 2004). Many vegetable oils can be used for biodiesel production and the choice of feedstocks must be based on technical and economic con- siderations. For example, in poor countries with semi-arid lands, it is very important to find adaptable cultures that are suitable to promote a sustainable agriculture, to produce biodiesel with viable prices. In order to evaluate the characteristics and chemical compo- sition of oil, in addition to its possible application in the biodiesel production, we carried out studies with the Syagrus coronate (Mart.) Becc. fruits. From the family Arecaceae, sub-family Arecoideae, the genus S. coronata is popularly known in Brazil as “licuri” or “ouri- curi”. The species, which is a typical palm of the semi-arid, grows mainly in semi-arid regions and, in Brazil, its geographical distri- bution comprises part of Minas Gerais, Bahia, Sergipe and Alagoas states. The S. coronate tree bears fruit throughout the year but, how- ever, March, June and July are the more favorable months for the best production (Noblick, 1986; Crepaldi et al., 2001). 2. Methods 2.1. Materials Analytical grade H 2 SO 4 (purity > 99%) and anhydrous methanol (MeOH, analytical grade, stored over MgSO 4 as desiccant) were pur- 0926-6690/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2010.06.026