Supported by
Stevia plant is likely to remain a major source of noncaloric sweeteners for the growing natural food market in the future. But, although sales were doubled in the last 4 years, the bitterness and characteristic aftertaste of steviol glycosides is still an issue to be addressed. To date, processes for preparing high purity steviol glycosides such as HPLC and TLC have small handling capacity and high cost making them less than preferable for industrial production. On the other hand, membrane separation could constitute a promising alternative due to its low cost and ease of application and upscalability. The objective of this proposal is to apply membranes for the separation and purification of steviol lycosides targeting high yield, higher efficiency and lower operating cost than already existing technologies.
