Abstract: In order to extract and utilize the protein from the seeds of Moringa oleifera,the extracting condition was optimized by aqueous enzymatic method and the functional properties of protein were also evaluated.Effects of pH,temperature,time and enzyme amount on the extraction rate of protein from the seeds of Moringa oleifera were established by single-factor tests.Protein was extracted by aqueous enzymatic method and Box-Benhnken design and response surface method was used to optimize the extraction process on the basis of single-factor tests.According to this model,the optimal parameters of extracting protein from Moringa oleifera seeds were determined as solvent/material ratio 1∶10,extraction temperature 60 ℃,hydrolysis time 4.5 h,enzyme amount 4.5%,pH 9.0 with Alcalase protease.The extraction rate under this optimum condition was 68.23%.The nitrogen solubility index of protein from Moringa oleifera seeds was up to its peak when the process condition was pH 10,a temperature of 55 ℃.The water holding capacity increased as the increasing pH value and was best when the temperature was 40 ℃.The oil absorption ability was most obvious at the temperature of 55 ℃.

Key words: Moringa oleifera seed, protein, extraction, aqueous enzymatic method, response surface method, functional properties