Kinetics of Extraction of Dioscine from Vegetable Raw Materials in Vibrocavitation Homogenizer
Authors: Flisyuk E. V. , Belokurov S. S. , Narkevich I. A. , Shikov A. N. , Flisyuk O. M. , Ivkin D. Yu. 
Published: May 2020

Introduction. In recent years, substances extracted from plant materials have been widely used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. Such substances are used as solutions, dry extracts for the manufacture of medicines, dietary supplements, cosmetic creams, food additives in various forms – tablets, capsules, solutions, granular powders. The extraction of valuable substances from plant materials is carried out using the extraction process, which is carried out by various methods and in apparatuses of various designs. Earlier, a comparative study of the extraction of dioscin from fenugreek by various methods was carried out: in devices with a stirrer, in an ultrasonic field, supercritical, fluid CO2 extraction, and in a vibro-cavitation homogenizer. It is shown that the most effective method is the extraction carried out in a vibrocavitation homogenizer.

Aim.To analyze the kinetics of the extraction of dioscin from fenugreek seeds, to determine the optimal values of the required degree of grinding of the raw materials, working temperature, the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the solution and the rotational speed of the rotor of the vibrocavitation homogenizer. Determine the effective mass transfer coefficient responsible for the intensity of mass transfer inside the particles.

Materials and methods. An experimental study of the extraction of valuable components from plant materials was carried out in a laboratory unit with a vibrocavitation homogenizer of periodic action. As raw materials were used seeds of hay fenugreek, ecotype of Morocco, acquired in the company Fitokasa, Casablanca (Morocco), which we used for research. Commodity analysis showed that raw materials comply with the requirements of the State Pharmacopoeia XIVth edition. As extractants, aqueous solutions of ethanol with an alcohol concentration of 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 %. The analysis of the kinetics of the process was based on the following ideas. Extraction begins with the surface of the particles of plant material. As the extracted component moves into the volume of the solution, the extractant penetrates into the internal pores of the particles, and the surface on which the extractant and the extracted component interact is gradually shifted into the individual particles. In this case, the resistance to mass transfer in the region between the specified surface and the outer surface of the particle increases over time.

Results and discussion. An analysis of the results shows that the rotor speed significantly intensifies the process. In addition, the influence of the rotor speed is most pronounced at the initial stage of the process, when the surface layers of particles of plant material are extracted. It was also found that the resistance to mass transfer inside particles increases significantly as it approaches the final stage of the process, and with an increase in the rotor speed, it increases, especially at the initial stage of the process, which is associated with the intensity of cavitation and the weakening of its effect as the process deepens inward particles.

Conclusions. The obtained dependences are necessary to determine the duration of the extraction process in a batch mode, or the average residence time of seeds in the working volume when organizing the process in a continuous mode.