Ion-exchange effects in zeolites in the adsorption of fructose

Fructose is also obtained during the synthesis of dextran as a secondary product. In industrials processes it is recovered up by ion-exchange resins in a chromatographic process. No article has been written about fructose separation from dextran by zeolites. In this work, ion-exchanges were carried out according to an experimental design with the following parameters: introduced cation (Calcium or Barium), exchanging time (5 minutes or 24 hours) and Silicon/Aluminium ratio of the zeolite (Y1=1,77 and Y2=2,59). At first, adsorption isotherms were determined for each ion-exchanged zeolite with the concentration of pure fructose solution ranging from 5 to 150 g/L. The highest adsorption capacity was found in the zeolite with the highest Silicon/Aluminium ratio which was exchanged with Calcium. This zeolite was tried in the adsorption of fructose from dextran production medium and it was verified that this zeolite adsorbed fructose in the ratio of about 30 mg of fructose/g of zeolite that is about 60% less than the adsorption capacity in a pure fructose solution at the same concentration.