Squalene rich virgin palm oil by microwave-assisted enzyme aqueous extraction from palm mesocarp

Microwave-assisted enzyme aqueous (MAEA) technique may improve the concentration of squalene in virgin palm oil (VPO). However, the efficiency of different enzyme compositions in various MAEA reaction conditions has yet to be determined. Therefore, the activity of four types of enzymes, hemicellulase, cellulase, pectinase, and phospholipase, and their mixture under various MAEA reaction conditions, including enzyme concentration (0,1 and 2%), pH (4.5 and 8), and incubation time (0, 2 and 4 h) were evaluated and its effect on the oil yield, squalene content, total reducing sugar and fatty acid composition of VPO was evaluated. The squalene content and fatty acids composition were analyzed using GC-FID. The results showed that MAEA significantly increased the oil yield and squalene content compared to aqueous extraction (AE), microwave aqueous extraction (MA) and enzyme aqueous extraction (EAE). The highest oil yield (39.48 +/- 4.03%) was obtained from mixed enzymes at pH 4.5, and the highest squalene content (961.77 +/- 53.16 mg/100 g) was obtained from mixed enzyme at pH 8. Microwave pre-treatment in enzyme aqueous extraction also significantly reduces the extraction time. VPO obtained from MAEA has higher lauric acid content. Overall, the best reaction condition to produce squalene rich VPO is by using 2% mixed enzyme, pH 8 and 4 h of incubation time. The results showed that MAEA extraction techniques are feasible for producing a high concentration of squalene in VPO as functional food products.