Centrifugal partition chromatography in a biorefinery context: Separation of monosaccharides from hydrolysed sugar beet pulp.
A critical step in the bioprocessing of sustainable biomass feedstocks, such as sugar beet pulp (SBP), is the isolation of the component sugars from the hydrolysed polysaccharides. This facilitates their subsequent conversion into higher value chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates. Separation methodologies such as centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) offer an alternative to traditional resin-based chromatographic techniques for multicomponent sugar separations. Highly polar two-phase systems containing ethanol and aqueous ammonium sulphate are examined here for the separation of monosaccharides present in hydrolysed SBP pectin: l-rhamnose, l-arabinose, d-galactose and d-galacturonic acid. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was selected as an effective phase system modifier improving monosaccharide separation. The best phase system identified was ethanol:DMSO:aqueous ammonium sulphate (300gL(-1)) (0.8:0.1:1.8, v:v:v) which enabled separation of the SBP monosaccharides by CPC (200mL column) in ascending mode (upper phase as mobile phase) with a mobile phase flow rate of 8mLmin(-1). A mixture containing all four monosaccharides (1.08g total sugars) in the proportions found in hydrolysed SBP was separated into three main fractions; a pure l-rhamnose fraction (>90%), a mixed l-arabinose/d-galactose fraction and a pure d-galacturonic acid fraction (>90%). The separation took less than 2h demonstrating that CPC is a promising technique for the separation of these sugars with potential for application within an integrated, whole crop biorefinery.
The Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK.
David P
DP
Ward
The Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK.
Max
M
Cárdenas-Fernández
Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK.
Peter
P
Hewitson
Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK. Electronic address: svetlana.ignatova@brunel.ac.uk.
Svetlana
S
Ignatova
The Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK. Electronic address: g.lye@ucl.ac.uk.
Gary J
GJ
Lye
D001089:Arabinose / Q000302:isolation & purification; D027461:Beta vulgaris / Q000737:chemistry*; D003377:Countercurrent Distribution / Q000379:methods*; D005690:Galactose / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006868:Hydrolysis; D009005:Monosaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010368:Pectins / Q000302:isolation & purification
D009005:Monosaccharides; D010368:Pectins; D001089:Arabinose; D005690:Galactose
Centrifugal partition chromatography; Hydrolyzed pectin; Monosaccharide separation; Sugar beet pulp; Sustainable bio-derived feedstocks; Whole crop biorefinery