Enzyme‐assisted extraction of essential oils from Syzygium aromaticum

Abstract

The essential oil of clove (

Syzygium aromaticum) holds an important position

amongst widely used essential oils. A typical steam distillation process

for the extraction of clove oil provides a 10.1% yield. Recent studies involved

the use of enzymes such as pectinase, amylase, lignocellulase, and cellulase

on the powder of clove buds, prior to extraction. The traditional methods of

physical and chemical extraction are effective but may affect the structure,

quality and yield of the phytochemicals extracted. In the current study,

hence, enzymes specific for action on the cell wall have been used in the pre

treatment prior to extraction, to enhance the quality and yield of the phytochemicals

extracted. The results indicated that all the enzymes, gave more

than 50% higher yield than control in terms of weight of extracted essential

oil. A mixture of the enzymes gave the highest yield of 17.82%. Gas chromatography

results indicated that the essential oil extracted using amylase had

a maximum eugenol content of 70%, in comparison with the eugenol content

(62–68%) in the essential oils extracted using the rest of the enzymes.

Antibacterial activity of all the extracts was studied on methicillin

â€resistant

Staphylococcus aureus

(MRSA). The essential oil extracted by using amylaseinhibited

MRSA, showed a zone size of 40 mm, whereas the essential oil extracted

by using lignocellulase showed a zone size of 45 mm. The gas chromatogram

indicated the maximum number of peaks in this extract, which

could be producing a combined antibacterial effect on the organism. The

specific gravity values of the essential oil extracted using lignocellulase and

amylase was 1.051 and 1.062, respectively, whereas the control had a specific

gravity of 1.015.