On increase of the efficiency of extracting phenolic compounds from palm oil mill effluent

Abstract

In Malaysia, the palm oil industry rapid development has increased the environmental problems due to the discharge of large amounts of palm oil mill effluent (POME) into the water sources. However, POME consists of a high level of phenolic compounds, a potential source of natural antioxidants. An enhancement of the recovery process of these phenolic compounds from POME is required to increase the opportunity of this bioburden transformation into health and wellness applications. This study describes an improvement in the extraction efficiency of phenolic compounds through the combination of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and enzymatic hydrolysis. The latter proceeds in presence of Ragi tapai as it is readily available at any local market in Malaysia. Conventional maceration is performed aiming a comparison. The results show that 50 % ethanol is the best extracting solvent among those used. Besides, MAE provides an increase of the phenolic compounds extraction yield by 15.8 % at a decrease of the extraction time by 98.75 % when juxtaposed to the conventional maceration method. The coupling of enzymatic hydrolysis and MAE further increases the extraction yield by 16.3 %. The results obtained indicate also the existence of a microwave non-thermal effect at a low microwave power.