Unlocking Bioactive, Peptide-Rich Extracts from Tomato Seeds Using Enzymatic-Assisted Extraction

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Biotechnology
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Tomato processing generates significant by-products, notably protein-rich seeds.
• Current methods for protein extraction are often inefficient and unsustainable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate direct enzyme-assisted protein extraction from non-defatted tomato seeds.
• To optimize extraction conditions and evaluate the bioactivity of the resulting protein extracts.

Main Methods:

• Enzymatic hydrolysis using various proteases (Bromelain, Protamex, Trypsin) on non-defatted tomato seeds.
• Optimization of enzyme/substrate ratios, pre-treatments, and incubation temperatures.
• Analysis of protein recovery, reducing sugar content, antioxidant activity, and anti-tyrosinase activity.

Main Results:

• Optimal protein recovery achieved with a 5% enzyme/substrate ratio using proteases directly on non-defatted seeds.
• Comparable protein yields from non-defatted and defatted seeds, indicating defatting is unnecessary.
• Extracts exhibited significant antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase activities, with Protamex yielding the highest bioactivity.

Conclusions:

• Direct enzymatic extraction is a sustainable and efficient method for recovering protein from tomato seeds.
• The process avoids defatting, reducing solvent use and energy consumption.
• The resulting protein-rich extracts possess valuable bioactive properties for various applications.