Method for treating pyropheophytin-containing compositions
View Patent ↗The present invention provides methods and uses for treating pyropheophytin-containing compositions, particularly in order to remove pyropheophytin therefrom. The compositions are typically plant, algal, or bacterial derived products such as vegetable oils. The method comprises a step of contacting the compositions with an enzyme having pyropheophytinase activity. Also provided are related apparatus and products for performing such methods and uses.
1. A method for treating a pyropheophytin-containing plant oil, comprising contacting the oil with an enzyme which hydrolyses pyropheophytin, wherein the enzyme has a pheophytinase to pyropheophytinase activity ratio of less than 50, wherein the enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 85% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, 23 or 25 wherein the oil is heterologous to the enzyme and wherein as a result of the enzyme's contact with the oil, the concentration of pyropheophytin in the treated oil is reduced by at least 10% compared to the concentration of pyropheophytin present in the oil before treatment.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme has pheophytinase or pheophytin pheophorbide hydrolase activity.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enzyme is from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii or Triticum aestivum.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein pyropheophytin in the oil is hydrolysed to form pyropheophorbide, and the method further comprises a step of removing pyropheophorbide from the oil.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the method comprises a deodorization step.
6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the method comprises a step of silica treatment.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the method comprises two or more silica treatment steps.
8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the silica treatment is performed at 70 to 110° C.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the oil is selected from rice bran, soy, canola, palm, olive, cottonseed, corn, palm kernel, coconut, peanut, sesame or sunflower oil.
10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a hexane extraction and/or degumming step.