Enzyme-supported oil extraction from Jatropha curcas seeds.
Jatropha curcas is a tropical plant widely distributed in arid areas. The seeds contain about 55% of oil, which is mainly used for the production of soap as a fuel and after transesterification as biodiesel. Various methods for recovering of oil from the seeds, including extraction with organic solvents and water, have been investigated. Compared to hexane extraction (98%) the oil extraction using water only yielded 38% of the total oil content of the seeds. Using several cell wall degrading enzymes during aqueous extraction a maximum yield of 86% was obtained. The influence of cellulolytic, hemicellulolytic enzymes, as well as proteases was studied. The experiments were carried out at different pH-values and temperatures to find out the optimum for oil recovering using enzymes. , Surprisingly, the best results (86%) were obtained using an alkaline protease. Combinations of proteases with hemicellulases and/or cellulases did not further increase the extraction yield. The enzyme-supported aqueous extraction offers a nontoxic alternative to common extraction methods using organic solvents with reasonable yields.
Winkler
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E
Institute of Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 12, A-8010, Graz, Austria.
Foidl
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N
Gübitz
G M
GM
Staubmann
R
R
Steiner
W
W