Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) is one of the fatty acid esters commonly referred to as biodiesel.   Biodiesel has been touted as a much cleaner, renewable source of energy compared to petrodiesel. The fuel properties of FAME depend on the plant or animal oil source of the triglyceride.   In Europe, diesel fuel is required to be blended with biodiesel and blends up to 20% fatty acid ester (biodiesel) do not require engine modifications [1]. Due to the low price of methanol, FAME is the most commonly produced fatty acid ester. It is generally produced by treating the oil (from plant oil, waste vegetable oil, or animal fat) with methanol over an alkali catalyst [2]. The source of the oil varies from region to region. In the US, soybean is the plant source of choice. A biochemical method of producing FAME from triglycerides involves an enzymatic transesterification employing lipase derived from Candida Antarctica [3] .

The following is a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) pathway map. For the biological pathway, organisms which carry out the pathway are given above, but other organisms may also carry out this biochemistry. Follow the links for more information on compounds or reactions.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel
[2] Pinto, A.C., Guarieiro, L.L.N., Rezende, M. J. C., Ribeiro, N. M., Torres, E. A., Lopes, W. A., Pereira, P. A. P., Andrade, J. B., 2005, J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 16, 1313-1330.
[3] Köse, Ö., Tüter, M., Aksoy, H. A., 2002, Bioresour. Technol. 83, 125.