Surfactant-assisted enzymatic extraction of piperine from Piper nigrum L

Surfactant-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis was used to extract the flavor compounds from piper nigrum L. The extraction conditions were optimized through orthogonal and single-factor experiments. The extracted piperine content, measured with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and UV spectrophotometric, was used as experimental index. The optimized conditions were as follows: the amount of cellulase, neutral protease and surfactant (sodium stearoyl lactylate) addition was 0.08%, 0.1% and 0.4% (w/w) respectively. The solid–liquid ratio was 1:5 (g/mL), the enzymolysis temperature and time were 60°C and 4 h, and the granularity was less than 10 mesh. Under these conditions, the content of the extracted piperine was 4.54% (UV spectrophotometric) and 4.42% (HPLC), respectively. Meanwhile, the mechanisms of the enzymatic reaction, as well as the role of the surfactant in enzymatic hydrolysis process were discussed.