Context : We have studied a sample of 89 very isolated , elliptical galaxies at z < 0.08 and compared their properties with elliptical galaxies located in a high-density environment such as the Coma supercluster .

Aims : Our aim is to probe the role of environment on the morphological transformation and quenching of elliptical galaxies as a function of mass .
In addition , we elucidate the nature of a particular set of blue and star-forming isolated ellipticals identified here .

Methods : We studied physical properties of ellipticals , such as color , specific star formation rate , galaxy size , and stellar age , as a function of stellar mass and environment based on SDSS data .
We analyzed the blue and star-forming isolated ellipticals in more detail , through photometric characterization using GALFIT , and infer their star formation history using STARLIGHT .

Results : Among the isolated ellipticals \approx 20 \% are blue , \lesssim 8 \% are star forming , and \approx 10 \% are recently quenched , while among the Coma ellipticals \approx 8 \% are blue and just \lesssim 1 \% are star forming or recently quenched .
There are four isolated galaxies ( \approx 4.5 \% ) that are blue and star forming at the same time .
These galaxies , with masses between 7 \times 10 ^ { 9 } and 2 \times 10 ^ { 10 } h ^ { -2 } ~ { } M _ { \sun } , are also the youngest galaxies with light-weighted stellar ages \lesssim 1 Gyr and exhibit bluer colors toward the galaxy center .
Around 30 – 60 % of their present-day luminosity , but only < 5 \% of their present-day mass , is due to star formation in the last 1 Gyr .

Conclusions : The processes of morphological transformation and quenching seem to be in general independent of environment since most of elliptical galaxies are ‘ red and dead ’ , although the transition to the red sequence should be faster for isolated ellipticals .
In some cases , the isolated environment seems to propitiate the rejuvenation of ellipticals by recent ( < 1 Gyr ) cold gas accretion .