Enzyme-Assisted Aqueous Extraction Of Cashew Nut (Anacardium occidentale L.) Oil

Enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction method was applied to extract oil from cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale L.). The commercial enzyme (Viscozyme cassava C) was tested for effectiveness in releasing oil during the aqueous extraction. The effect of several parameters such as material/water ratio, enzyme concentration and duration for enzyme incubation on the oil yield was investigated. The conditions for maximum oil release were found with the material/water ratio of 1:9, enzyme concentration of 1% (v/w E/S), and in 3 h of enzyme incubation at 50oC with constant shaking. The maximum oil yield obtained at those conditions (38.88 % raw material) was significantly (p <0.05) higher than that of the control (without enzyme) (35.92 %), and it represented 86.28 % recovery of the total oil in seed. No hexane and other organic solvents were needed for this process. The cashew nut oil by enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction was relatively stable. Both peroxide value and free fatty acid value were lower than those in the oil obtained by Soxhlet method. Total un-saturated fatty acid in the cashew nut oil was about 84.43 %, in which the most abundant was oleic acid (65.0 %), followed by linoleic acid (18.53%). Cashew nut oil is a good dietary source of un-saturated fatty acids