Reactive Extrusion for Ferulic Acid Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for extracting ferulic acid from biomass, such as extrusion followed by enzyme-assisted hydrolysis, are inefficient and require multiple steps, leading to suboptimal yields and increased environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A process involving reactive extrusion of biomass in the presence of a base, which allows for the simultaneous extraction and release of ferulic acid, reducing the need for additional hydrolysis enzymes and simplifying the separation process, while maintaining high yields and reducing water and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If extrusion followed by enzyme-assisted hydrolysis is used to extract ferulic acid, then ferulic acid can be extracted from biomass, but the process requires multiple steps leading to suboptimal yields and increased environmental impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines extrusion and hydrolysis into a single reactive extrusion step by adding base directly to the extruder, eliminating the need for separate enzyme treatment steps. This integration simplifies the process flow while improving ferulic acid extraction yield through continuous in-situ hydrolysis during extrusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The base is added to the extruder before the biomass material, allowing preliminary preparation of the extrusion medium. This preliminary action ensures that the base is already distributed and ready to facilitate hydrolysis as the biomass passes through the extruder, improving extraction efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple extraction steps are used, then ferulic acid extraction can be achieved, but water and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The reactive extrusion process operates continuously with base and biomass fed into the extruder simultaneously, maintaining continuous hydrolysis and extraction action. This eliminates idle time between steps and ensures consistent energy utilization throughout the process, reducing overall energy consumption compared to batch processing.
3Manufacturing precision
If enzyme-assisted hydrolysis is used, then ferulic acid release is improved, but the process requires additional equipment and increases environmental impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces enzyme-based biological hydrolysis with base-mediated chemical hydrolysis during extrusion. This substitution eliminates the need for enzyme preparation, handling, and disposal infrastructure, reducing environmental impact while achieving effective ferulic acid release through the base-catalyzed breakdown of hemicellulose and arabinoxylans.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This process achieves high ferulic acid extraction yields, reduces equipment size, and minimizes environmental impact by integrating extraction and hydrolysis in a single operation, with improved solid-liquid separation and polysaccharide separation, enabling efficient production for applications in foodstuffs, cosmetics, and flavorings.
Implementation Method 1
Ferulic acid is a component of the plant cell wall, bound to hemicellulose and arabinoxylans. The base enables hydrolysis of these polysaccharides, releasing the ferulic acid.
Implementation Method 2
a biomass is extruded in the presence of a base
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for extracting ferulic acid and/or its salts, comprising a step (a) in which a biomass is extruded in the presence of a base. The present invention also relates to ferulic acid in protonated or salified form that can be obtained according to the method of the present invention. Finally, the present invention also relates to a method for preparing vanillin from ferulic acid obtained according to the method of the present invention. The invention can be used in particular in the field of food, cosmetics and flavours.