Aloin is one of the main components of the perennial succulent plant aloe (the basic component of anthraquinone compounds), and it is also the primary ingredient in current market aloe series products, such as aloe beverages, health products, medicines, beauty cosmetics, etc. The molecular weight of aloin is418.39. Membrane separation technology can effectively separate and purify aloin from aloe juice.
Process Flow for Separating and Purifying Aloin from Aloe Leaves:
Aloe leaves → Pre-treatment (cleaning, sterilization, peeling) → Crushing and juicing → Centrifugal separation → Membrane filtration system → Membrane concentration system → Freeze-drying → Aloe powder
Pre-treatment: Fresh leaves are rinsed clean with water, then disinfected and sterilized using5-10 min of ultraviolet radiation sterilization. After sterilization, the leaf skin is removed, and the aloe gel is extracted using sterilized blades.
Crushing and juicing: The crusher breaks down the gel and leaf skin tissue into a slurry, and the aloe residue and juice are separated using a screw press.
Centrifugal separation: Further removes fine particles and suspensions from the aloe juice.
Membrane filtration system: Completes the clarification and filtration of aloe juice, removing semi-soluble and soluble macromolecular impurities;
Membrane concentration system: Uses nanofiltration membrane concentration technology to complete the concentration, dehydration, and removal of small molecules from the clarified aloe juice, achieving high-fold enrichment of aloin.
Freeze-drying: Uses freeze-drying equipment to remove moisture from the aloin-enriched liquid, obtaining high-purity aloin powder.
Membrane separation technology, as a replacement for traditional separation techniques, refers to the physical separation of mixed substances of different particle sizes at the molecular level when passing through a nanofiltration membrane. Membrane separation technology operates at room temperature, involves no phase change, is highly energy-efficient, and does not generate pollution during the production process.
Advantages of Membrane Separation Technology
1、Operates at room temperature, which does not damage the heat-sensitive and easily decomposable active substances in raw aloe leaves, and does not cause changes in the effective components of concentrated aloe gel;
2、The membrane concentration process uses pressure as the driving force, resulting in significantly lower energy consumption per unit compared to traditional concentration processes that use thermal energy as the driving force;
3、No phase change, with fast filtration and concentration speeds. For different material processing volumes, the number of membrane components can be increased or decreased, or the operating parameters during the process can be adjusted to maximize equipment utilization. This ensures high activity of effective components and significantly reduces costs by increasing production speed;
4、Not only removes water but also separates effective components of different molecular weights in aloe.
