The effects of several lipases on oleyl linolenate synthesis were investigated. The lipase having the highest esterification activity was screened by our laboratory and the yeast which produced this kind of lipase was Trichosporon , named as Y 11. Several factors which influenced oleyl linolenate synthesis were studied. The optimum temperature for the esterification was 30 ℃ and the reaction could be carried out in the temperature range of 4100 ℃, the optimum pH was 8.0, the optimum substrate concentration was 0.5 mol/L. The esterification rate could amount to 85% after 22 h and could further reach 95.2% if the water produced in the reaction was removed in time. Among 11 kinds of organic solvents compared, the esterification rate in n hexane was the highest and that in dimethylsulfoxide was the lowest, the former was ten times higher than the latter.
