A novel method for extracting steryl glucosides from soy lecithin

Abstract

In this study, a novel method utilizing enzyme and involving simple solvent extraction steps, was developed to yield an extract with high content of steryl glucosides (SG) and acyl steryl glucosides (ASG) from soy lecithin—the by-product of vegetable oil refining. Phospholipase A₁ was used to convert phospholipids in soy lecithin into more hydrophilic hydrolysates, from which SG and ASG were separated by solvent extractions. A 3 x 3 full factorial design was employed to investigate the effects of two parameters (enzyme dose and reaction time) on three responses (yield of extract, SG/ASG content of extract, and recovery of SG/ASG). There were significant enzyme dose—reaction time interaction effects on all the responses, except for yield of extract. The highest SG (including ASG) content of more than 90 % in the extract was achieved at enzyme dose of 0.03 g and reaction time of 16 hours, where the yield of extract obtained was 1.43 %.

Practical applications: Conventionally, steryl glucosides and acyl steryl glucosides are isolated from lipid extract and purified by chromatographic methods, which result in a small amount of high purity steryl glucosides and acyl steryl glucosides, and thus is not economic to scale up. The method revealed in this study employed an enzymatic reaction followed by simple solvent extractions, and can be easily scaled up to produce high purity steryl glucosides and acyl steryl glucosides, making them more affordable for researchers. In addition, the method also presents a new application for soy lecithin or lecithin of other plant origins, whose current applications are mostly related to the main component-phospholipids.

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