Separation Science and Technology, Vol.41, No.13, 3027-3038, 2006
Separation of campesterol and beta-sitosterol from a sterol mixture
By solvent crystallization using diethyl ether as the solvent on sterol mixture, brassicasterol and stigmasterol that contains a side chain with double bond were separated from campesterol and beta-sitosterol with a saturated side chain. The total campesterol and beta-sitosterol content in the liquid phase was more than 97% with a recovery of 12%. Multistage crystallization using acetone as the solvent could increase the recovery of campesterol and beta-sitosterol to 30%. By employing zeolite selective adsorption on the campesterol and beta-sitosterol fraction, beta-sitosterol can be recovered in the liquid phase with a purity of 95.2% and a recovery of 3% ( overall recovery 1%). After desorbing in ethanol, campesterol adsorbed on the zeolite can be recovered with a purity of 95.4% and a recovery of 3.7% ( overall recovery 1.6%).