Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Alcalase-Extracted Protein Hydrolysate from Oil Palm Leaves.

BACKGROUND The oil palm tree produces 90% of wastes and the limited usage of these wastes causes a major disposal problem in the mills. Nevertheless, these by-products have a large amount of nutritional components. Thus, this study aimed to determine the physicochemical and functional properties of protein hydrolysates (PH) from oil palm leaves (OPL) extracted using different concentrations of Alcalase (0 - 10%) at 2 h of hydrolysis time. RESULTS FTIR spectral analyses showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis altered functional groups of OPL where secondary amine was present in the PH. The changes were also observed in the thermal stability where the enthalpy heat obtained for PH (933.93 - 1142.57 J/g) was much lower than OPL (7854.11 J/g). Results showed that the PH extracted by 8% Alcalase exhibited absolute zeta potential, high emulsifying activity index (70.64 m2 /g of protein) and emulsion stability index (60.58 min). Furthermore, this PH showed higher solubility (96.32%) and emulsifying properties than other PHs. It is also comparable with commercial plant proteins, postulating that 8% Alcalase is an optimum concentration for hydrolysis. CONCLUSION In summary, the physicochemical and functional properties of PH extracted from OPL showed good functional properties and suggesting it to be used as an alternative plant protein in food industries. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.