Partition of Tea Saponin with a Novel Recyclable Thermo-pH Aqueous Two-Phase Systems

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have the advantages of environmentally friendly, high mass transfer efficiency, and mild extraction conditions. However, it is difficult to recycle these polymers, which limits the large-scale application of ATPS. In this study, a novel recyclable ATPS was constructed with thermo-responsive polymer P_N and pH-responsive polymer P_ADB4.78 for the partition of tea saponin. P_N represents poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide), and P_ADB4.78 represents poly-(acrylic acid-dimethylamine ethyl methacrylate-butyl methacrylate), where 4.78 in the subscript indicate the isoelectric point of the polymer. The recoveries of P_N and P_ADB4.78 were 95.36% and 93.48%, respectively, after two cycles. Meanwhile, the phase formation mechanism of ATPS was studied by surface tension and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). The effects of polymer concentration, pH, temperature, types and concentrations of salt were investigated on tea saponin partition. In the 1.5% (w/v) P_N/3.5% (w/v) P_ADB4.78 ATPS, the optimal partition coefficient (K) of crude tea saponin were 0.15 in the presence of 1.5 mM KCl at pH 7.6 and 25 °C while the extraction recovery (ER_b) reached 92.13%. The K and ER_b of tea saponin from tea seeds were 0.12 and 94.50% with 7.5 mM LiBr at pH 8.0 and 25 °C, respectively.