Enhancement of grape seed oil extraction using a cell wall degrading enzyme cocktail

The application of an enzymatic pre-treatment to increase the yield of grape seed oil extraction was studied. Experiments were carried out to measure the effects that reaction time, temperature, pH, particle size and enzyme concentration have upon the enzymatic activity.The following set of parameters was optimised: time = 24 h, pH 4, temperature 30–40 °C, particle diameters 1.0–1.4 mm, and cocktail concentration of: cellulase = 29, protease = 1191, xylanase = 21, and pectinase = 569 U/g of seed sample. The extraction yield was 13.7%, which represents an increment of 106% over non-treated samples. For 120 h the yield achieved was 17.5%, and the increment reached 163%. Such results indicate that a prolonged enzymatic treatment may certainly be used to enhance oil extraction.