AbstractHigh‐temperature pretreatment that is currently used in camellia oil extraction can have negative effects on the quality of camellia oil. In this study, the enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds is explored as an alternative to high‐temperature pretreatment. The main conditions for enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds including enzyme, pH, temperature, time, and buffer solution are optimized using the response surface methodology. Under the optimal conditions of enzymatic pretreatment, the oil recovery is close to 75%. Moreover, residual oil recovery from camellia seeds subjected to 1398 neutral protease pretreatment (4 g per kg seeds) and high‐temperature pretreatment are 5.62 ± 0.08% and 9.97 ± 0.18%, respectively. The enzymatic pretreatment is further applied to pre‐pressing solvent extraction of camellia oil, the cake oil recovery from camellia seeds subjected to enzymatic pretreatment is higher than that from high‐temperature pretreatment. These results show that enzymatic pretreatment of camellia seeds has potential for application in the oil industry.Practical Applications : This study suggests that enzymatic pretreatment can replace high‐temperature pretreatment and improve oil recovery and oil quality. Ultimately, this method can be used to extract camellia oil.