Presentation Information
[2Brew-11]Enhancement of Virgin Coconut Oil Production Efficiency and Utilization of By-products
○Phanida Saikhwan1, Nattawadee Phatai1, Yadarin Piluek1 (1. Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat School of Engineering, Thammasat University (Thailand))
Keywords:
Cellulase-assisted extraction,Coconut residue,Mannose,Polysaccharides,Virgin coconut oil (VCO) production
Virgin coconut oil (VCO) production generates two underutilised by-products: coconut residue (CR), currently used as animal feed or processed into low-value cooking oil, and an aqueous phase obtained after centrifugation, which is typically discarded or given to local farmers for making Effective Microorganisms (EM). Cellulase-assisted extraction (CAE) of CR has been reported to yield oil with properties comparable to VCO. As cellulase hydrolyses cellulose in CR, it releases carbohydrate compounds into the aqueous phase; accordingly, the aqueous phase from CAE is expected to contain higher concentrations of polysaccharides, particularly mannose — a high-value skin prebiotic — compared to that from a conventional VCO production.
Hence, this study investigated the effects of carbohydrate-degrading enzymes — cellulase, α-amylase, and mannanase — on oil yield and polysaccharide content in the aqueous phase. In the preliminary stage, cellulase amount was varied between 35,000 and 50,000 U at a fixed digestion time of 5 hr. The extraction was conducted using a shaking incubator (100 rpm) with temperature and pH were kept at the optimal ranges of the enzyme (~55ºC, pH 5.5). Whilst 35,000 and 40,000 U produced comparable oil yields, 40,000 U gave the highest mannose content and was selected for further optimisation.Response surface methodology (RSM) was then applied by varying amounts of cellulase (1,500–40,000 U), α-amylase (100–400 U), mannanase (20–100 U), and digestion time (1–5 hr), with oil yield as the response variable. Cellulase amount and digestion time were found to significantly affect oil yield, whilst the other enzymes had no significant effect. The optimum condition — 40,000 U cellulase with a 2 hr digestion time — yielded 85.4% of the oil content determined by Soxhlet extraction and 1.6 times the yield obtained by the conventional VCO extraction (centrifugation method).
The negligible effect of mannanase observed in the RSM study may be attributed to the narrow dosage range investigated, despite coconut meat containing more mannan than cellulose. A subsequent study, therefore, was conducted with mannanase dosage extended up to 80,000 U. Applying mannanase after cellulase digestion did not significantly improve oil yields but reduced the particle sizes of the remaining CR. Mannanase alone produced comparable CR particle sizes to sequential cellulase–mannanase treatment, albeit at a higher mannanase dosage. Furthermore, extracting coconut milk prior to enzymatic treatment resulted in a lower oil yield, likely owing to structural changes in coconut fibre that reduced enzyme accessibility.
Overall, this study demonstrated that cellulase pretreatment improves VCO yield, reduces residual oil in CR, and enriches the aqueous phase with polysaccharides — particularly mannose — potentially enhancing the value of VCO by-products for cosmetic applications.
Hence, this study investigated the effects of carbohydrate-degrading enzymes — cellulase, α-amylase, and mannanase — on oil yield and polysaccharide content in the aqueous phase. In the preliminary stage, cellulase amount was varied between 35,000 and 50,000 U at a fixed digestion time of 5 hr. The extraction was conducted using a shaking incubator (100 rpm) with temperature and pH were kept at the optimal ranges of the enzyme (~55ºC, pH 5.5). Whilst 35,000 and 40,000 U produced comparable oil yields, 40,000 U gave the highest mannose content and was selected for further optimisation.Response surface methodology (RSM) was then applied by varying amounts of cellulase (1,500–40,000 U), α-amylase (100–400 U), mannanase (20–100 U), and digestion time (1–5 hr), with oil yield as the response variable. Cellulase amount and digestion time were found to significantly affect oil yield, whilst the other enzymes had no significant effect. The optimum condition — 40,000 U cellulase with a 2 hr digestion time — yielded 85.4% of the oil content determined by Soxhlet extraction and 1.6 times the yield obtained by the conventional VCO extraction (centrifugation method).
The negligible effect of mannanase observed in the RSM study may be attributed to the narrow dosage range investigated, despite coconut meat containing more mannan than cellulose. A subsequent study, therefore, was conducted with mannanase dosage extended up to 80,000 U. Applying mannanase after cellulase digestion did not significantly improve oil yields but reduced the particle sizes of the remaining CR. Mannanase alone produced comparable CR particle sizes to sequential cellulase–mannanase treatment, albeit at a higher mannanase dosage. Furthermore, extracting coconut milk prior to enzymatic treatment resulted in a lower oil yield, likely owing to structural changes in coconut fibre that reduced enzyme accessibility.
Overall, this study demonstrated that cellulase pretreatment improves VCO yield, reduces residual oil in CR, and enriches the aqueous phase with polysaccharides — particularly mannose — potentially enhancing the value of VCO by-products for cosmetic applications.
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