Optimization of the recovery yield of the enzymatic aqueous extraction of oil from wet açaí decocts using Design of Experiment

These last decades, açaí oil has been extensively studied for its biological properties and has gained interest from the health industry. It has thus become necessary to develop eco-friendly extraction techniques. The main objective of this study was the use of experimental designs for the maximization of the recovery yield of the enzymatic aqueous extraction process of açaí oil from wet decocts. A Simplex-Lattice Mixture Design was employed for the optimization of the proportion of three commercial enzymatic preparations. Subsequently, a Central Composite Design was used to identify the optimal values for total enzymatic concentration (0.5-4.5%) and extraction time (2-12h). The “Response Surface Methodology” (RSM) revealed that the maximum yield (60.55 ± 5.98%) was obtained using a 0.49:0.25:0.28 ternary mixture of Celluclast 1.5 L, Viscozyme L and Ultrazym AFP-L at a total enzymatic concentration of 2.85% for 10.9 hours. This study concluded that the enzymatic aqueous extraction of açaí oil is an efficient and sustainable process.