Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction of Oil from Mandarin Peels

Abstract

The Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) peels were utilized for recovery of essential oil. The essential oil is one of the important ingredients widely used in various food products. The flavedo part of peels of mandarin fruit was utilized for extraction of essential oil by hydro-distillation method and cold pressing extraction method. The peels were pre-treated with enzyme by varying its concentration from 0.1% to 0.3%. Essential oil was recovered from these enzyme treated samples and yield obtained was compared with control samples. By varying the concentration of enzyme in pre-treatment the increase in the yield of essential oil as compared to control samples obtained were up to 15%. This increase in recovery may be due to rupture of oil sacs/glands by enzymatic action, resulting excess release of essential oil from oil sacs. The effect of concentration of enzyme at pH 4.5 and contact time 3 hrs on the yield obtained was studied during extraction.