Biodiesel was obtained by transesterification of tucum oil in anhydrous ethanol and methanol and employed NaOH as catalyst. The products obtained were characterized by physical chemical, NMR, FTIR, CG and thermogravimetric analysis. It could be concluded that the properties of the two types of biodiesel (ethanolic and methanolic) were very similar when compared with diesel oil. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.