In this study, the seed kernels of Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) were pretreated with partially purified pectinase (PPP) prior to hydrodistillation to enhance the extraction of essential oil. The yield of the essential oil obtained after pretreatment with PPP was 4.70%. GC-MS analysis of the essential oils obtained after pretreatments with PPP showed a total of 33 constituents classified into monoterpenes (51.52%), sesquiterpenes (21.21%) and phenylpropanoids/aromatic (27.27%) compounds. Comparison was made by pretreating the nutmeg seeds with a pure pectinase (CP) obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. The fraction obtained when pretreated with CP was made up of 32 components with monoterpenes (51.31%), sesquiterpenes (18.75%) and phenylpropanoids/aromatic (28.12%) compounds. The major components of essential oils obtained after pretreatments with PPP and CP were sabinene, α-pinene, β-pinene and myristicin. This research shows that the extraction of Myristica fragrans seed kernel essential oil can be improved using PPP when compared with the yield of the control (3.80%) obtained from the seed kernels that were not pretreated with the enzymes prior to hydrodistillation.
The cell walls of plants are made up of cellulose as the major composite and the hydrolysis of this polysaccharide has proven to be a major step in the extraction of many biomolecules. This research was on both pure and partially purified endo-1,4-D-glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.4 (cellulase) assisted extraction of essential oil from the seed kernels of Nutmeg by using a two-step protocol that involved the pretreatment of the sample with cellulase followed by the distillation of the essential oil using Clevenger apparatus. The essential oil obtained after pretreatment with pure cellulase was 8.2 % while 5.8 % of essential oil was obtained when treatment prior to hydro-distillation of oil was done with partially purified cellulase. An oil yield of 3.8 % was observed when no enzyme pretreatment was carried out. The GC-MS analysis of the essential oil obtained from the two-step protocol showed the presence of 25 and 24 components from the sample pretreated with the partially purified cellulase and pure cellulase respectively. There were three major groups of components observed from the essential oils. These are the monoterpenes made up of sabinene, α-pinene, and β-pinene; the sesquiterpenes made up of safrole and alpha-copaene; and the phenylpropanoid/aromatic compounds, composed of myristicin and methyl eugenol. The presence of these principal compounds in the major groups has given nutmeg essential oil improved value due to the possibility of incorporating them as functional ingredients in several products with possible applications in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, fragrance, flavour, and cosmetic industries
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