Pretreatment Camellia Seeds by Protease and Application to Extraction of Camellia Oil

High-temperature pretreatment that is currently used in camellia oil extraction can have negative effects on the quality of camellia oil. In this study, the enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds is explored as an alternative to high-temperature pretreatment. The main conditions for enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds including enzyme, pH, temperature, time, and buffer solution are optimized using the response surface methodology. Under the optimal conditions of enzymatic pretreatment, the oil recovery is close to 75%. Moreover, residual oil recovery from camellia seeds subjected to 1398 neutral protease pretreatment (4 g per kg seeds) and high-temperature pretreatment are 5.62 +/- 0.08% and 9.97 +/- 0.18%, respectively. The enzymatic pretreatment is further applied to pre-pressing solvent extraction of camellia oil, the cake oil recovery from camellia seeds subjected to enzymatic pretreatment is higher than that from high-temperature pretreatment. These results show that enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds has potential for application in the oil industry.

Automated summary

This study examines the potential of enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds as an alternative to high-temperature pretreatment for extracting camellia oil. By optimizing conditions and conducting experiments, it demonstrates that enzymatic pretreatment is effective in improving oil recovery from camellia seeds.