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Abstract
The aim of this work was to study the separation of liquiritin (LQ) from glycyrrhizic acid (GA), in licorice aqueous solutions using nanofiltration (NRT-7450) membrane. The LQ and GA components are the main active ingredients of licorice root extract with various pharmacological effects, The effects of transmembrane pressure, feed temperature, feed pH, and cross-flow velocity on permeate flux and recovery were determined. A lab scale cross-flow set up using flat-sheet configuration membrane was employed for all experiments. SEM micrographs showed the changes in the fouled surface during operating time. The applied transmembrane pressure, feed temperature, feed pH, and cross-flow velocity were varied from 4 to 10 bars, 30 to 40°C, 3 to 9, and 0.8 to 3.1 m s−1 respectively. The obtained recoveries for GA and LQ varied between 0.65 to 1.86% and 16.89 to 41.65%, respectively. The optimum operating conditions for separation LQ from GA in licorice aqueous solutions using NRT-7450 nanofiltration membrane were 1.8 m s−1cross-flow velocity, 8 bars transmembrane pressure, 40°C of feed temperature and pH 7.