Selective extraction and purification of gallic acid from actual site olive mill wastewaters by means of molecularly imprinted microparticles

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Vol. 198-199; pp. 529 - 535
• Main Authors: Puoci, Francesco, Scoma, Alberto, Cirillo, Giuseppe, Bertin, Lorenzo, Fava, Fabio, Picci, Nevio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 01.08.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical engineering; Ethanol; Ethyl alcohol; Exact sciences and technology; Extraction; Food engineering; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gallic acid; General aspects; General purification processes; Genetic algorithms; Mills; Molecularly Imprinted Polymers; Olive mill wastewaters; Olives; Pollution; Polyphenols; Recovery; Solid phase extraction; Waste water; Wastewaters; Water treatment and pollution; Polyphenols; Molecularly Imprinted Polymers; Solid phase extraction; Olive mill wastewaters; Gallic acid; Selective extraction; Purification; Food industry; Microparticle; Waste water
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2012.05.095

► A biocompatible selective recovery of gallic acid from olive mill wastewaters. ► Eco-friendly separation procedure developed by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers. ► Industrially oriented use of MIPs on actual site agroindustrial wastes. An innovative biocompatible approach for the selective recovery of gallic acid (GA) from actual site olive mill wastewaters (OMWs) by means of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) was developed. Bulky MIPs with a high selectivity for GA were synthesized by a non-covalent approach using methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker. Imprinting efficiency was evaluated in different water/ethanol solutions by determining α and ε parameter, by using pyrogallic acid as the template analogue: the highest GA recognition, both in terms of percentage and of imprinting effect (α=32.7; ε=4.2), was observed in pure ethanol. The efficiency of the developed extraction protocol was evaluated with an actual site OMW: a selective extraction of 80% of pure GA was achieved with high accuracy and precision, as shown by RSD% (4.3%) and recovery values (between 85% and 97%).