Enzyme-mediated organic solvent extraction of lutein from marigold flower(Tagetes erecta)

A technology for extracting lutein from marigold flower meal was studied by using simultaneous cellulolytic enzyme treatment and organic solvent extraction methods. The optimal conditions in the enzyme-mediated organic solvent extraction process were investigated. The results show that the primary factors which affected the enzyme-mediated organic solvent extraction are extraction time, incubation time previous to extraction, enzyme concentration and agitation rate in the extraction process in comparison with the others. The optimal conditions are as follows: 2.000 g 60 mesh marigold flower meal as material, 7%(m/m, flower meal) liquid cellulase concentration for 1.5 h incubation and 3 h extraction duration with 700 r/min agitation rate in combination with 20∶1(volume/weight) solvent to solid weight ratio, under which high extraction yield(92.37%) of lutein can be achieved by means of verification test. In addition, the extraction yield of lutein extracted by using single organic solvent is just 77.53% and the results suggest that the enzyme-mediated organic solvent extraction process is superior to single organic solvent extration method.