Membrane-based separation scheme for processing sweeteners from stevia leaves

In existing processes, extraction and refining of glycoside based sweetener s from stevia leaves involves many process steps including extraction by or ganic solvents. The purpose of the present study was to develop a process o f extraction and refining of sweeteners with reduced number of unit operati ons and minimization and/or elimination of chemical usage including organic solvents. It was found that water was very effective for extracting glycos ides at Selected pH and temperatures. It was also shown that a multi-stage membrane process was successfully able to concentrate the glycoside sweeten ers. Based on the preliminary results; it appears that bitter-tasting compo nents were washed out from the sweetener concentrate in the nanofiltration process. This work also has demonstrated that a membrane-based separation p rocess for refining glycoside-based sweeteners could be viable and needs to be investigated further. Canadian Crown Copyright (C) 2000 Published by El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.