Enzyme assisted extraction of lutein from marigold flowers and its evaluation by HPLC

Lutein is a carotenoid, found in dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach and various fruits and flowers. The most important source of lutein is flower petals of Tagetes erecta, commonly termed as Marigold; where lutein is chemically bound to various types of fatty acids such as lauric, mystric and palmitic acids. In this work an attempt has been made to study the effect of non commercial enzymes like cellulase and pectinase on extraction of lutein from Marigold flowers.The results have demonstrated enhanced extraction yield for lutein after treatment of the dried and powdered flower petals with enzymes. The isolated lutein was further subjected to spectral analysis and quantitation by HPLC. Keywords:- Lutein; Tagetes erecta; enzyme treatment; HPLC analysis