Separation and purification of caulerpin from algal Caulerpa racemosa by simulated moving bed chromatography

The separation process of caulerpin from other phytoconstituents in a feed extracted from Caulerpa racemose was conducted using a simulated moving bed (SMB). Before separation in the SMB, the feed was pretreated through drying and ultrasonic separation. In the SMB columns, the stationary phase was Welch Ultimate AQ-C18, while the eluent was 76% EtOH. Different affinities to the stationary phase and the eluent caused caulerpin to collect at the extract port while the other phytoconstituents collected at the raffinate port. The effect of three switching times on the efficiency of the separation and purification process were investigated empirically where, the average purity of caulerpin at switching times of 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 min were 91.2, 99.0, and 99.3%, respectively. Caulerpin content at the raffinate ports obeyed the triangle theory whereby, for the switching times of 3.5 and 4.0 min it was 0%, while for the 4.5 min, it was 35.0%. Overall, the optimum switching time for the separation and purification of caulerpin in this laboratory-scale SMB chromatograph was 4.0 min. For this switching time and in the sixth cycle, the caulerpin mass loaded in the SMB was 2341.4 g while that obtained in the extract port was 2158.0 g giving a yield of 93.3%. © 2021