[4S06m] 17. Downstream processing - Part 1

11:00 AM - 11:20 AM JST(2:00 AM - 2:20 AM UTC)

[4DSP-03] ZnO Nanoparticle-Based Efficient Xylitol Purification from Fermentation Broth : A Streamlined and Economical Strategy

○Saivi Singh¹, Sathyanarayana N Gummadi¹ (1. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (India))

Keywords:

Xylitol Purification,Adsorption,Precipitation,Alternative Sweetener,Fermentation

A simple, cost-effective, and scalable strategy was developed for the purification of xylitol from fermentation broth, targeting efficient removal of protein and coloured impurities while minimizing product loss. The process involves a two-step approach consisting of acetone-induced precipitation followed by adsorption using ZnO nanoparticles (ZNPs), with key operating parameters systematically optimized. Individually, acetone precipitation achieved 60.5 ± 0.2% protein removal and 73.5 ± 1.1% colour removal, with a xylitol loss of 11.4 ± 1.1%, while ZNP adsorption removed 28.2 ± 0.2% protein and 5.2 ± 2.5% colour, with minimal xylitol loss of 1.1 ± 0.4%. Sequential implementation of the two steps significantly improved overall purification efficiency, resulting in 80.7 ± 0.5% protein removal and 75.5 ± 1.4% colour removal, with a total xylitol loss limited to 12.7 ± 0.2%. Compared to conventional adsorbents such as activated charcoal, ZNPs demonstrated more selective impurity removal with reduced co-adsorption of xylitol, offering advantages in process efficiency and economics. The process reduces reliance on multi-step, capital-intensive purification systems, offering advantages in operational simplicity and cost. Following purification, xylitol was recovered by crystallization, achieving a purity of 97.6% and a yield of 25.4%, and was further characterized using FTIR, HRESIMS, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, powder and single-crystal XRD, and FESEM. Overall, this study reports the first application of ZnO nanoparticles for fermentation broth purification and presents an efficient and practical downstream strategy with strong potential for scale-up, although further improvements in crystallization yield and nanoparticle recovery may enhance industrial applicability.