A comparison of monoglyceride production from microalgae lipids and rapeseed oil catalyzed by metal oxides: data

Microalgae is an important biomass source with high-value applications, such as food ingredients with essential fatty acids. To date, the glycerolysis of microalgae has only been investigated for a microbial oil (Schizochytrium sp.) using enzyme catalysis. However, the use of enzymes on a large scale is currently economically impeditive and requires highly selective lipases. In this study, metal oxides were screened and the reaction conditions optimized for the glycerolysis of rapeseed oil. The optimized conditions were then used to investigate the production of MAGs from Scenedesmus sp. microalga.Data is available in excel spreadsheets for the X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen physisorption experiments. Testing was carried out using a Design of Experiments approach to evaluate the effect of the reaction parameters (glycerol:oil ratio, temperature, and catalyst loading), with triplicates in the centre point.