Enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction of shea fat: A rural approach

The use of enzyme-assisted partial hydrolysis as a preextraction treatment in a rural shea fat extraction process to improve upon the extraction rates of the process was explored following an observed possibility in a preliminary investigation. Finely ground shea kernel meal samples were mixed with water in predetermined ratios and heated to inactivate any enzymes present. A crude protease and an enzyme with both hemicellulase and cellulase activities were added and mixed, also in predetermined concentrations. The suspensions were incubated in a waterbath shaker at temperatures ranging from 30 to 45°C for specified periods of time. The treated meal samples were then extracted using an adapted traditional aqueous extraction process. At optimum meal-to-water ratio of 1:2, enzyme concentration of 1%, the natural pH of the meal (about 5.3), and incubation time of 4 h, the enzyme treatment increased the extraction rate from about 40% in the typical traditional system (control) to about 75%, of the total fat content (estimated by the Soxhlet method). The enzyme-treated meal samples were very easy to extract as there was no need to cream or whip out the fat, as is laboriously done in the traditional process. The extracted fat samples had apparently less unsaponifiable matter content and slightly less free fatty acid content and peroxide value, compared to samples from the typical traditional process and, in some cases, the Soxhlet extracted samples. The observations confirmed the results of the preliminary investigations and suggest that the enzyme-assisted preextraction treatment could significantly improve upon the aqueous shea fat extraction process.