Current and Future Use of Membrane Technology in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry

ABSTRACT

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of Chinese culture and the Chinese pharmaceutical industry. The adoption of stricter requirements for the quality of medicines has resulted in the loss of conformity of some traditional techniques used to prepare TCMs modern pharmaceutical methods. The TCM industry has begun to seek out novel methods to improve product quality and increase economic efficiency. Membrane technology is efficient, energy saving, and environmentally friendly. It is widely used in food processing, desalination, wastewater treatment, and in the medical industry. Membrane technology has also been adopted by the TCM industry as an alternative to traditional technology and has achieved good results. At present, membrane technology has been used in the separation, purification and concentration of TCMs. This review describes the use of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and membrane distillation, in TCM processing that have been reported. Membrane fouling is the most important obstacle in the use of membrane-based processes by the TCM industry. The causes and control of membrane fouling associated with TCM extracts are also analyzed.

KEYWORDS:

• Traditional Chinese medicine
• membrane technology
• membrane fouling
• review

Disclosure Statement

We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [81803744, 81773919, 81773912, 81303230, 81673610]; Key Laboratory project of Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government [19JS018]; The project was funded by Innovation Research Team of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, by the Six Talent Project in Jiangsu Province, by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions [PAPD], by the China Academy of Engineering Consulting Project [A Project Funded by China Academy of Engineering Consulting Project 2017-ZX-08], and by the National Science and Technology Major Project for “Significant new drugs creation” of China during the Thirteen Five-Year plan [A Project Funded by National Science and Technology Major Project for “Significant new drugs creation” of China during the Thirteen Five-Year plan 2018ZX09301030-003];A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions;A Project Funded by the Six Talent Project in Jiangsu Province;A Project Funded by Innovation Research Team of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine;