Abstract
Reverse micelles extraction of erythromycin and amoxicillin were carried out using the novel Sophorolipids biosurfactant. By replacing commonly used chemical surfactants with biosurfactant, reverse micelle extraction can be further improved in terms of environmental friendliness and sustainability. A central composite experimental design was used to investigate the effects of solution pH, KCl concentration, and sophorolipids concentration on the reverse micelle extraction of antibiotics. The most significant factor identified during the reverse micelle extraction of both antibiotics is the pH of aqueous solutions. Best forward extraction performance for erythromycin was found at feed phase pH of approximately 8.0 with low KCl and sophorolipids concentrations. Optimum recovery of erythromycin was obtained at stripping phase pH around 10.0 and with low KCl concentration. On the other hand, best forward extraction performance for amoxicillin was found at feed phase pH around 3.5 with low KCl concentration and high sophorolipids concentration. Optimum recovery of erythromycin was obtained at stripping phase pH around 6.0 with low KCl concentration. Both erythromycin and amoxicillin were found to be very sensitive toaqueous phase pH and can be easily degraded outside of their stable pH ranges.
Highlights
An innovative liquid-liquid extraction method utilizing reversed micelles formed by surfactants had been studied for separation of proteins from aqueous solutions
The terms included in the final reduced models and their estimated regression coefficient for forward extraction of erythromycin and amoxicillin are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively
Sophorolipids reverse micellar system was tested for the reverse micelle extraction of erythromycin and amoxicillin
Summary
An innovative liquid-liquid extraction method utilizing reversed micelles formed by surfactants had been studied for separation of proteins from aqueous solutions. The advantages of reverse micelle extraction include high selectivity, mild thermal operating conditions, low energy consumption, potential for large scale operation, and potential for continuous operation[7,8]. This extraction method had been tested for the extraction of different bio-molecules such as β-glucosidase[9], chitosanases[10], laccase[11], lipase[12], nattokinase[13], penicillin G14, and polyphenol oxidase[15]. Sophorolipids are one of the biosurfactants that is easy to obtain They are produced from non-pathogenic yeast Candida bombicola[19,20,21]. They have the potential to be used as a sustainable and environmental friendly alternative for chemical surfactants
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