Aqueous fractionation of mucilage and protein from Camelina sativa seeds and defatted meal

Abstract

Camelina protein and mucilage are being investigated as coproducts in addition to the oil. It has been reported that the significant amount of mucilage (10–11 %) in the seed coat interferes with the recovery of the protein. In this work, two schemes of producing mucilage and protein fractions from camelina seeds were evaluated and proximate composition of each process stream was analyzed. In the sequential extraction process, mucilage was first separated from hydrated seeds, then oil from degummed seeds, and lastly the protein from the defatted degummed meal. In the other process, aqueous fraction rich in protein and carbohydrates were extracted simultaneously from defatted meal. Proteins were obtained by alkali solubilization and acid precipitation method. Sequential extraction produced a mucilage fraction with 15.2 % protein content and a protein isolate (90.2 % crude protein). Simultaneous aqueous extraction of the defatted meal produced a mucilage fraction with 48.9–50.2 % protein content and a protein concentrate (67.4 and 75.6 % crude protein). The whey obtained had similar protein and soluble carbohydrates contents of 24.4–26.4 % and 56.5–58.2 %, respectively. The difference in composition of the mucilage, protein and whey fractions produced by each process will determine the applications of these products.