Two-Step Enzymolysis of Antarctic Krill for Simultaneous Preparation of Value-Added Oil and Enzymolysate

Abstract

Antarctic krill is a crucial marine resource containing plenty of high-valued nutrients. However, krill oil as a single product has been developed by the current solvent extraction with high cost. From the perspective of comprehensive utilization of Antarctic krill, this study proposed a novel two-step enzymolysis-assisted extraction in attempt to produce value-added oil and enzymolysate simultaneously. After two-step chitinase/protease hydrolysis, the lipid yield increased from 2.09% to 4.18%, reaching 112% of Soxhlet extraction. The method greatly improved the yields of main components while reducing the impurity content without further refining. After optimization, the oil contained 246.05 mg/g of phospholipid, 80.96 mg/g of free eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and 0.82 mg/g of astaxanthin. The by-product enzymolysate was abundant in water-soluble proteins (34.35 mg/g), oligopeptides (13.92 mg/g), amino acids (34.24 mg/g), and carbohydrates (5.79 mg/g), which was a good source of functional nutrients. In addition, both oil and enzymolysate showed high antioxidant capacity. This novel method could simultaneously provide oil and enzymolysate amounting for 58.61% of dried krill.