Acidolysis of butteroil with free conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was studied in a packed bed reactor containing an immobilized Candida antarctica (fraction B) lipase. Kinetic data were used to develop quantitative reversible rate expressions of the general Michaelis-Menten form that also incorporate a term for first-order deactivation of the enzyme. The extent of incorporation of CLA in the triacylglycerols of butteroil was characterized for reactions carried out at several temperatures (namely 45degrees, 50degrees, and 55degreesC) with different weight ratios of butteroil to CLA (namely 10:1 and 2:1). At the optimum operating temperature of 50degreesC, similar levels of incorporation of CLA (60% to 85%) were achieved at low space times (<3 h) for both 10:1 and 2:1 (w/w) ratios of butteroil to CLA. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.