The enzymatic extraction of proteins from a commercial rice flour was studied in this work. In order to increase the Protein Extraction Yield (PEY), the following parameters were evaluated: enzyme type (alkaline and neutral protease); temperature (40, 50 and 60 °C); pH (9.5, 10.5 and 11.0); physical treatment of the sample (no treatment; Ultra-Turrax at 16.000 rpm and ultrasound at 120 W, both for 5, 10 and 15 minutes); enzyme:substrate ratio (E:S) of 5:100 and 10:100 and initial concentration of raw material (1:3, 1:5 and 1:10 w/v). The PEY was calculated using the protein contents of rice flour and the extraction residues. The results showed that the best condition for protein extraction, which gave the highest PEY (63.4%), was that using an initial concentration of raw material of 1:10 (w/v), no physical treatment, pH 10.5, the alkaline protease, an E:S of 10:100, at 50 °C.
rice; enzymes; extraction; protein; yield
