Effect of enzyme assisted extraction on quality and yield of volatile oil from black pepper and cardamom

The present study investigated the effect of enzyme pre-treatment on extraction of active compounds from spices, namely, black pepper and cardamom. A mixture of enzymes, namely, Lumicellulae (a mixture of cellulase, beta-glucanase, pectinase, and xylanase), was used for the pre-treatment of black pepper and cardamom. The pre-treatment of spices with enzyme increased the yield of essential oil. The GC and GC-MS evaluation of the essential oil showed that the major active components in spices, such as, beta-caryophyllene in black pepper and alpha-terpenyl acetate in cardamom, markedly increased from 15.03 to 25.58 and 38.91 to 48.6%, respectively, on enzyme treatment as compared with the untreated control. The improvement in the yield and the major components of essential oil was attributed to the destruction of the cell wall structure by the enzymes pre-treatment which was substantiated with microscopical images using SEM.