Researchers from the Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IBFC,CAAS)have constructed novel three-phase partitioning (TPP) systems based on green solvents, pH-switchable deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for extractionand purification of grape seed polysaccharide (GSP). This study provides a green, efficient, and sustainable method for extracting and purifying bioactive substances.
Grape seeds account for 5-7% of the entire grape and are usually discarded after wine brewing, which not only wastes resources but also causes environmental pollution. GSP has the functions of anti-tumor, anti-aging, antiviral, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic. TPP is a relatively novel separation technique used to extract various bioactive substances, which exhibits many advantages compared to traditional separation techniques. However, the TPP system typically uses volatile, flammable, and toxic t-butanol, which will cause safety risks and environmental pollution. Our previous studies have demonstrated that DESs can well replace t-butanol in constructing TPP systems. Due to the nonvolatility of conventional DESs, it is difficult to separate DESs from the target substance. However switchable DESs can effectively solve this problem.
Researchers constructed novel TPP systems based on pH- switchable DESs to extract GSP and compared them with traditional TPP systems based on t-butanol and the hot-water extraction method. In addition, researchers also explored the switch mechanism of pH-switchable DESs and their recyclability and regeneration performance in the application process. The results showed that the novel TPP systems could efficiently extract GSP in a green manner, and could achieve the purpose of sustainable extraction of GSP through switching and regenerating pH-switchable DESs.
The research was supported by projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The study entitled Extraction and purification of grape seed polysaccharides using pH-switchable deep eutectic solvents-based three-phase partitioning has been published online in Food Chemistry journal and can be accessed through the following link https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135557.
Fig.The entire process of GSP extraction and pH-switchable DES recovery
