Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques

Bio-separation of natural as well as biomedical molecules has been constantly developed in last decades. Even though several techniques are available, the majority of them present drawbacks such impossibility to work at industrial scale. Main up scaling limitations are linked to high costs and to the fact that devices are based on microfluid dynamic. In this scenario, magnetic bio-separation is considered the most prone to be applied for large scale preparation. Herein, we propose a proof of concept of a simple magnetic separation method that is not based on microfluid dynamics and can work in a semi-continuous high-flow rate. Furthermore, the proposed system could be easily automated in order to be used for standard separation purposes. The functional principles are based on the use of an anisotropic flexible magnetic strip, teflon hoses and a pumping device. We show the modelling of the separation process along with an experimental test on iron oxide magnetic particles. The results showed that it is possible to remove, and separately collect, more than 92% of magnetic particles from a liquid solution of 100 ml in roughly 15 minutes with just one passage.

Biodiesels obtained from renewable energy sources are considered to be good alternatives to traditional fuel sources due to their environmental friendliness. Purification of the biodiesel upper-rich phase composition after transesterification is often influenced by some parameters. This study investigated the influence of temperature and time interval on the purification of biodiesel upper-rich phase mixture composition of Jatropha oil biodiesel system consisting of Jatropha oil biodiesel, methanol, glycerol at (20°C, 25°C, 30°C, 35°C, 40°C, 45°C, 50°C, 55°C, 60°C) and (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32) minutes respectively. The results were obtained by cloud point titration method under isothermal conditions at the different temperatures and time intervals and further analyzed using GC to provide the phase composition in mass fractions of the sample containing the mixture component. The analysis indicated increased mass composition of Jatropha oil biodiesel from 20°C to 60°C at intervals of 5°C attaining maximum value of 97.2% at 20°C, 97.4% at 40°C and 97.2% at 55°C for time intervals of 2 minutes in each case. This implied that temperature and time had minimal influence on the purification of the components of the Jatropha oil biodiesel upper-rich phase.

There are a number of natural remedies against cancer. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has been proven to be a natural remedy against cancer, due to the cyanogenic compounds such as linamarin. A rapid and simple liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) method was developed to identify and quantify linamarin in Cassava. The method was developed using various Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) extracts. Developed application is not limited to Cassava, but can be extended to other types of linamarin containing plant materials as well. Linamarin was quantified by the LC-MS system, with the mobile phase being H2O:CH3CN, 8:2, and a reverse phase C18 column. This method was utilized to determine the concentration of linamarin in leaf and tuber of M. esculenta. Linamarin concentrations from different types of extraction methods such as acidified water, acidified methanol, cryocooling and hot water were studied. The acidified methanol extract yielded significantly high amounts of linamarin in its intact form and therefore determined as the most suitable sample preparation method to determine linamarin concentrations in Cassava. This LC-MS based linamarin detection system was shown to be sensitive, efficient, cost effective, and highly reproducible.