Quality Evaluation of Avocado Peel and Pulp Oil (Persea americana) Using Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) with Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) Pretreatment
Aisyah Miftahurrahmah, Sukardi*, Arie Febrianto Mulyadi

Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang 65145, Indonesia
*Email: sukardi[at]ub.ac.id

Abstract

Avocado (Persea americana) is a tropical fruit that contains bioactive compounds such as tannins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids with antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. Avocado pulp is a rich source of oil due to its high content of oleic acid and palmitic acid. The extraction method in this study uses Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) combined with Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) pretreatment to increase cell membrane permeability and yield. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of PEF voltage and exposure time on its quality and the best treatment on its physicochemical characteristics compared to the control. Voltage levels were 4, 6, and 8 kV, and exposure times were 5, 10, and 15 minutes. This study examined yield, refractive index, specific gravity, color (L and a*), and Cell Disintegration Index (CDI) for all samples, while FFA and GC-MS analysis were conducted only for the best treatment. The voltage and exposure time influenced avocado peel and pulp oil quality, with significant effects on yield, refractive index, and specific gravity. The best treatment (T3W3: 8 kV and 15 minutes) has an increase in yield by 2.62% and FFA of 0.8%, but reduced refractive index of 0.019%, specific gravity of 0.037, L color of 5.04, and a* color of 0.85 compared to control.

Keywords: Avocado peel and pulp- extraction- MAE- PEF pretreatment

Topic: Agricultural and bioprocess engineering