Comparison and study of the flocculation effect of peppermint water-extraction solution by two natural flocculants

In order to overcome the deficiencies of high losing rate of effective components,high production cost,complex process,a natural,non-toxic high polymer flocculant chitosan and natural mineral flocculant bentonite was used to flocculate peppermint water-extraction solution.Based on the intermittent experiment method,let flocculation rate and flavanones loss rate be index,the influence of flocculant,temperature,mixing speed on flocculation for the effect of flocculant were discussed,and the optimum technological parameters were ascertained by orthogonal experiment.Results showed that the flocculation effect of chitosan was better than bentonit when the flocculant concentration was 0.741 g·L-1,operating temperature was 30℃ and mixing speed was 40 r·min-1,the flocculation rate reached 92.75% and the flavanones loss rate was 10.75%.On this basis through analyzing the flocs and particle size of water-extraction solution before and after flocculation,the flocculation mechanism of herbal medicine was discussed thoroughly.