Enzymatic hydrolysis in conjunction with conventional pretreatments to soybean for enhanced oil availability and recovery

Enzymatic hydrolysis of oilseeds prior to extraction has recently been shown to enhance the extractable oil in oilseeds and its recovery. This paper presents the results of optimizing the combination of enzymatic hydrolysis with one or more conventional pretreatments to soybean and of optimizing the hydrolysis parameters as they determine the mechanical extractability as well as the solvent extractability. Enzymatic hydrolysis in conjunction with flaking (dehulling inherent) and steam conditioning offered statistically the best pretreatment combination for soybean at a 5% level of significance, enhancing the extractable oil content by about 4.8% of moisture-free sample. The optimal hydrolysis parameter values based on response surface analysis were: hydrolysis moisture content 23.22% wet basis, enzyme concentration 11.99 vol/wt, and incubation period 13.79 h. Over 99% of the total extractable oil released after hydrolysis was extractable within 16 h on a Soxhlet extractor.