Enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction of oil from Forsythia suspense seed and its physicochemical property and antioxidant activity

In order to exploit the byproduct of Forsythia suspense, its seed oil was first studied for the extraction, physicochemical property and antioxidant activity. The green and effective enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction processing under microwave irradiation was applied to obtain the oil. The optimal oil yield of 21.62 ± 0.51% (dry weight of F. suspense seed basis) was achieved by the treatment of 1.5% (w/w) enzyme cocktail (cellulase/pectinase/proteinase = 1/1/1, w/w/w) under 90 min. The fatty acid composition of FSSO exhibited the predominance of linoleic acid (72.96%) along with oleic acid (18.66%) and palmitic acid (5.59%), which was quite similar to that of sunflower oil. Moreover, FSSO showed the notable concentration-dependent antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 22.35 and 29.51 mg/mL, according to the DPPH radical scavenging assay and β-carotene/linoleic acid bleaching test, respectively. Thus, FSSO may serve as a potential source of valuable product for the food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetics industries.