Enhancing the extraction of pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo L) for increasing oil yield and its phytosterol content

Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita pepo) were harvested in 2018 containing 41.23±1.23% oil; 33.18±1.61% protein; and 1575.97 ±67.79 mg phytosterol in 100g seeds (dried weight). Solvent (hexane) extraction (SE), Ultrasound assisted solvent (hexane) extraction (UAE), Enzyme Alcalase assisted extraction (EAE) and Enzyme Alcalase_Ultrasound assisted extraction (E_UAE) were studied. The oil’s yields and phytosterol in oil obtained were 90.07±0.17% and 1657.6±82.9 mg/100ml oil; 95.46±0.06% and 2017.5±100.1 mg/100ml oil; 89.65±0.11% and 1992.7±99.5 mg/100ml oil; 91.87± 0.03% and 2327.7 ±110.4 mg/100ml oil, respectively. The highest oil yield of 95.56% was obtained when UAE method was applied, while it was found that the highest phytosterol content of 881.7 mg/100g seeds can be obtained in the case of using E_UAE.