Desalting of Aqueous Extract of Acanthus ebracteatus Vahl. by Nanofiltration

Abstract

Nanofiltration was applied for desalting of aqueous extract of Acanthus ebracteatus Vahl. The optimal condition for the desalting was found to be at flow velocity of 0.875 m/min with applied pressure of 10 kg/cm² to obtain the average NaCl rejection of 31%. The diafiltration process comprised of 1.5 concentration followed by the diafiltration ratio of 2 allowed 80% salt removal. The mathematical model developed for the diafiltration process agreed very well with the experimental results. In addition, the aqueous extract of A. ebracteatus Vahl. after the removal of salts exhibited better cytotoxicity against both human epidermoid carcinoma and human cervical carcinoma.

Keywords:

• Acanthus ebracteatus Vahl.
• nanofiltration
• diafiltration
• desalting

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Asean University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED‐Net) for the financial support of this study and Prof. Shin‐ichi Nakao (Department of Chemical System Engineering, the University of Tokyo) under Thailand‐Japan Technology Transfer Project (TJTTP‐OECF) for the support of NF units.