Using hog intestine as the membrane in a supported liquid membrane (SLM) for separation and enrichment of nicotine compounds from tobacco

Abstract

The extraction of alkaloid substances from diluted aqueous botanical solutions is of interest in practical separation and purification processes as well as in the system analysis of the facilitated mass-transport theory. To meet this need, the development of a highly efficient and selective membrane separation technique is required. In this paper, we used hog intestine as the biomembrane in a supported liquid membrane (SLM) to study the extraction efficiency of nicotine compounds from tobacco. Two membrane models (the single and double hog intestine membrane models) were employed and aqueous nicotine and tobacco extracts were used as the feed phases. The results showed that the behaviour of nicotine transport kinetics were similar in both the feed phases, but different in the membrane models. The resistance of mass transport was mainly from the analytes transferring into the organic phase. The single hog intestine membrane model was applied to extract the alkaloids from local tobacco. The results showed that the hog intestine could be used as the membrane in an SLM to separate alkaloids from tobacco.