Fructo-oligosaccharides purification from a fermentative broth using an activated charcoal column

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Carbohydrate Chemistry
• Separation Science

Background:

• Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) are valuable prebiotics with growing demand.
• Current purification methods for FOS from fermentative broths can be complex and costly.
• Efficient and scalable purification is crucial for industrial FOS production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple and efficient method for purifying FOS from fermentative broth.
• To optimize the selective desorption of sugars using water/ethanol mixtures.
• To evaluate the process for its effectiveness in desalting the broth.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a single activated charcoal column for FOS purification.
• Modeled FOS adsorption kinetics using a pseudo-second order model.
• Optimized desorption conditions by varying water/ethanol volumes and concentrations at 25°C.

Main Results:

• Achieved a FOS purity of 92.9% (w/w) from an initial 50.6% (w/w) in the fermentative broth.
• Obtained a FOS recovery rate of 74.5% (w/w).
• Isolated FOS fractions with purity up to 97% (w/w) and demonstrated efficient broth desalting.

Conclusions:

• The proposed activated charcoal purification process is simple, efficient, and scalable.
• This method offers a cost-effective approach for high-purity FOS production.
• The process effectively removes salts, simplifying downstream applications.