The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 12, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 16, 1999
Alister D. Muir, Saskatoon, CA;
David Paton, Saskatoon, CA;
Krista Ballantyne, Saskatoon, CA;
Andrew A. Aubin, Saskatoon, CA;
Abstract
A process for commercial extraction of saponins from quinoa, and optionally for the formation of corresponding sapogenins. The saponin extraction process comprises contacting a saponin-containing part of a quinoa plant with an aqueous alcohol solution containing an alcohol selected from the group consisting of methanol and ethanol to form a saponin-containing solution and an extracted solid residue, removing the alcohol from the saponin-containing solution to leave a saponin-containing aqueous solution, and evaporating water from the saponin-containing aqueous solution to produce a saponin-containing product. The conversion to sapogenins involves obtaining a solution of saponins in an aqueous alcohol, adding a strong acid to the solution to hydrolyze the saponins to form corresponding sapogenins that precipitates out of the solution as a precipitate, recovering the precipitate, and decolorizing the precipitate by forming a slurry of the precipitate with a solution of an aqueous base to form a decolorized sapogenin product.