Palm oil extraction using enzyme mixture treatment

Abstract

In this study, application of aqueous enzymatic process to enhance the recovery of palm oil was studied. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of different combinations of enzyme mixture towards the percentage of oil extracted with respect to total oil content in palm mesocarp. The optimum combination of enzymes comprising of cellulase (X1), peptinase (X2), and xylanase (X3) for Aqueous Enzymatic Oil Extraction Process were determined using Simple Lattice mixture design (Design of Experiments). Maximum oil recovery of 85.95% was achieved with ratio of enzyme at 0.67:0.17:0.17 (X1: X2: X3), at enzyme loading of 30 mg protein/10 g substrate, substrate loading of 50% w/v, pH 4.8 and 2.0 hours of incubation at 50 0C. The concentration of reducing sugars at corresponding experimental runs was measured to evaluate the degree of hydrolysis and oil extracted. Concentration of reducing sugar trend was found not to be similar of the trend of oil extraction Analysis using Design Expert software for optimum condition showed a cellulase to xylanase ratio of 0.78:0.22 for 84.79% of oil recovery. A confirmation run performed produced 83.8% palm oil recovery.