Abstract:

Active carbon, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide and D315 macroporous anion exchange resin were separately used for the decolorization of crude polysaccharide from corn silks. All four methods displayed decolorization effects on crude corn silk polysaccharide in terms of decolorization efficiency, retention rate of polysaccharide and antibacterial activity. Decolorization using sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide led to low retention rate of polysaccharide and decrease of antibacterial activity. The decolorization efficiencies by active carbon and macroporous anion exchange resin decolorization methods were 87.9% and 83.4%, and the retention rates of polysaccharide were 81.5% and 76.6%, respectively. Both active carbon and D315 resin exhibited better decolorization capability than sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide. Nevertheless, active carbon residue in polysaccharide solution was difficult to remove, which had a disadvantage effect on polysaccharide quality. In general, resin decolorization method is the best choice.

Key words: corn silk, active polysaccharide, separation, decolorization