Aplicação de enzimas celulase e hemicelulase comerciais degradadoras da parede celular vegetal na extração de óleo essencial de alecrim

Abstract

Essential oils, natural products extracted from plants, have gained prominence in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health science industries, replacing synthetic products that have negative impacts on human health and the environment. Essential oils are secondary compounds produced by plants, whose composition and quantity vary according to various external factors. Although there are different standard methods for extracting essential oils, such as hydrodistillation and steam extraction, they can have disadvantages, such as low yield, long duration and high energy consumption. The use of enzymes, as pre-treatment in the extraction of essential oils, has aroused interest in the biotechnology industry due to the possibility of increasing yield, without changing the chemical composition of the oil. The present study aimed to analyze the potential of commercial cellulose-degrading enzymes present in the leaf walls in the yield of rosemary essential oil. The conditions for applying the enzymes were evaluated, comparing the yield between conventional extraction and extraction using cellulolytic enzymes, using hydrodistillation with a Clevenger apparatus. The extraction conditions were also evaluated, comparing the chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by the different methods. The use of enzymes in the extraction of essential oils from rosemary showed the potential to increase the yield in 9.5 %, without significant changes in the chemical composition. The enzyme that obtained the best results was cellulase, comparing the three methodologies. Based on the results of the gas chromatography carried out, it was possible to observe an increase in the concentration of some substances present in the composition when the commercial enzyme cellulase was used.