Abstract: China is the main castor oil production country of the world. It is more easily available for the preparation of ricinoleic acid by lipase. Lipase catalysis has many advantages such as mild reaction, simple to operate and environmental friendly. In this paper, the selection of lipase and the advantage of immobilized enzyme were summarized, and the influencing factors of enzymatic catalytic efficiency were discussed. It is expected to provide the theoretical basis for the research and exploitation of the preparation of ricinoleic acid by lipase catalysis method.