Multi-objective optimization and implementation of a biorefinery production scheme for sustainable extraction of pectin from quince bio-waste

RIVEROS GOMEZ, MATHIAS; ZALAZAR GARCÍA, DANIELA; MUT, ISIDE; TORRES-SCIANCALEPORE, RODRIGO; FABANI, MARÍA PAULA; RODRIGUEZ, ROSA ANA; MAZZA, GERMÁN

ACS Engineering Au

ACS Publications

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2022 vol. 6 p. 496 - 506

The objective of this study was to optimize the pectin extraction from industrial quince bio-waste using citric acid as a hydrolytic agent and assisting the process with ultrasound technology. For this, the process was modeled using the Box–Behnken design (BBD) to find the factors’ optimum values and their interactions. The quince pectin extraction was carried out by adding to the bio-waste a citric acid solution at different pH (2.0, 2.5, and 3.0) in a mass volume ratio of 1/25, 1/20, and 1/15 g/ml, and immersing them in an ultrasound bath during 30, 45, and 60 min, at a controlled temperature of 70, 80, and 90 °C. Pectin yield, process cost, and CO2 emission were calculated at the different conditions according to the BBD model, and a polynomial function was adjusted for each dependent variable. A multi-objective optimization technique known as ‘Genetic algorithms’ was used to find the proper extraction conditions that would maximize the pectin yield and minimize the process cost. The optimal extraction conditions obtained were: pH = 2.12, mvr = 0.04 g/mL, time = 48.98 min, and temperature = 85.20 °C, taking the response variables the values of: pectin yield = 12.78 %, cost = 1.501 USD/kg of pectin, and the calculated CO2 emission = 0.565 kg of CO2/kg of pectin.