Recovery of biologically active compounds from licorice root extracts by membrane-based operations

The objective of this study was to develop a sustainable membrane-based process for the recovery of biologically active compounds from licorice root extracts in order to develop natural products enriched of components of interest suitable for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutraceutical applications. The raw extract was submitted to a preliminary ultrafiltration (UF) step devoted to the removal of macromolecular compounds and suspended solids. The clarified extract was then fractionated by using tight UF and nanofiltration (NF) membranes with different molecular weight cut-off (MWCO). The performance of selected membranes was evaluated in terms of separation capability towards biologically active compounds, including glicyrrhizic acid and caffeic acid, productivity and fouling index (FI).