Production of purified hemicellulose-pectin fractions of different molecular weight from discarded carrots by hydrothermal treatment followed by multistep ultrafiltration/diafiltration

Hemicelluloses and pectins are good candidates as biopolymers for the formation of products such as packaging films. Purified freeze-dried fractions of hemicelluloses and pectins, of different molecular weights, were obtained by treating hydrothermal extracts (140, 160, and 180 degrees C) of discarded carrots with ultrafiltration membranes (30, 10, 5, and 1 kDa). After each ultrafiltration, several cycles of diafiltration with partial water reuse were applied, obtaining a better separation and purification. A cascade configuration (30-10-5-1 kDa) was used in the 140 and 160 degrees C extracts, and a mixed configuration (5-10-1 kDa) in the 180 degrees C extract. High molecular weight hemicelluloses increased in concentration by a factor of 5 in the cascade configuration and by a factor of 16.67 in the mixed configuration. A high removal of free sugars (98.9-99.5 wt%) and by-products (94.4-99.2 wt%) through 1 kDa permeate and diafiltration waters was obtained. The system allowed moving from feeds with molecular weight, polydispersity, and purity in the ranges 9.02-18.83 kDa, 16.2-31.6, and 30.12-33.51 wt% to fractions with values in the ranges 2.59-102.75 kDa, 1.2-4.0, and 73.1-100 wt%.

Automated summary

This study utilized ultrafiltration technology to obtain purified freeze-dried fractions of hemicelluloses and pectins of different molecular weights from discarded hot carrots, achieving better separation and purification during the diafiltration process.