Efficient Separation and Purification of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) Based on EGCG-Imprinted Polymer Prepared with Chitosan as Matrix

Abstract

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), which was suitable for recognizing epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), was prepared by using EGCG as template molecule and biocompatible chitosan as a functional matrix in aqueous medium. Molecular recognition ability of the EGCG-imprinted polymer (EIP) was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results show that the EIP has a high imprinting factor (1.32) for EGCG and was used to purify EGCG from crude tea polyphenol efficiently. The percentage of EGCG can be improved from 78.6% in crude tea polyphenol (TP) to 90.1% in product and the adsorption quantity per unit can reach 4.02 mg · g⁻¹. EIP shows potential excellent prospect in the application of separating and purifying EGCG from TP.

Keywords:

• Chitosan
• Epigallocatechin gallate
• Molecularly imprinted polymer
• Separation and purification

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the project of Fujian Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2010J01025) and the project of Fujian Education Department (JB09240).