Estolides are a group of FA polyesters resulting from ester bond formation between a hydroxyl or olefinic group of one FA and the terminal carboxyl group of a second FA. These products are commonly found in trace amounts, forming tetraglycerides in several oil seed plants, and have been produced by acid clay and enzymatic catalysis in vitro. In this study, natural estolides produced by a bacterial culture are presented for the first time. Pseudomonas sp. 42A2 produced (E)-10-hydroxy-8-octadecenoic acid and (E)-7,10-dihydroxy-8-octadecenoic acid when grown on oleic acid. It is suggested that these FA were polymerized in culture by a lipase produced by the bacterial strain, resulting in a mixture of estolides. These compounds amounted to 3.8 g/L after 72 h of incubation. LC-MS analysis indicated that the types of estolides formed were dimers (m/z 560-610), trimers (m/z 845-906), tetramers (m/z 1122-1202), pentamers (m/z 1328-1424), and hexamers (m/z 1554-1788), with a relative abundance of 27.5, 19.4, 15, 9.7, and 11%, respectively. This is the first report in which hexamers were detected in a bacterial culture.

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