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Aqueous Extraction of Coconut Oil by an Enzyme‐Assisted Process
Author(s) -
TanoDebrah Kwaku,
Ohta Yoshiyuki
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199708)74:4<497::aid-jsfa823>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - copra , pectinase , cellulase , aspergillus niger , extraction (chemistry) , chemistry , amylase , food science , pulp and paper industry , coconut oil , protease , microbiology and biotechnology , enzyme , chromatography , biology , biochemistry , engineering
A pre‐extraction enzyme treatment of copra meal was incorporated into a rural wet copra oil extraction process to investigate the possibility of improving the traditional process by the enzyme treatment. The enzymes used in the study were combinations of a protease from Aspergillus niger , a cellulase/hemicellulase preparation from Trichoderma reseei , and α‐amylase from A oryzae and a pectinase from A niger (all were crude preparations). Finely milled copra meal samples were mixed with water and the enzymes and incubated at 37°C for 6 h or more. After the treatment, the meal was extracted using a water flotation technique. Yield increases of about 50%, relative to experimental controls, were observed, suggesting the possibility of using the enzyme‐assisted oil extraction methods to improve upon traditional copra processing. © 1997 SCI.