Process improvement for semipurified oleosomes on a pilot-plant scale.

Semipurified oleosomes were isolated on a pilot-plant scale using improved-process extraction conditions. The improved process consisted of continuous centrifugation in a three-phase decanter with recirculation of slurry until most of the oleosomes were recovered. Oleosome fractionation, oleosin identification, and isoflavone and saponin mass distributions and recoveries were investigated. The improved pilot-plant oleosome extraction process was achieved in 8 h. A total of 91%± 1% of soybean oil was recovered as intact oleosomes. The oil content of the aqueous supernatant and the residue fractions were low at 2% and 3%, respectively. The aqueous supernatant fraction contained 40% total soybean protein. About 76% of the proteins present in the oleosome fraction were soybean storage proteins. Washing the semipurified oleosomes with a 0.1 M Tris-HCl, pH 8.6 containing 0.4 M sucrose, and 0.5 M NaCl resulted in the recovery of the associated storage proteins. The recovery of these proteins in addition to the protein in aqueous supernatant accounted for 79% of the total soybean storage proteins fractionated by this process. Oleosins were detected at 17 and 18 kDa. Isoflavones and saponins partitioned into the oleosome, aqueous supernatant, and residue fractions at different ratios with the majority, about 82 and 63 mole%, respectively, in oleosome and aqueous supernatant fractions, making these fractions an attractive source for phytochemicals.