Enrichment of deoxynojirimycin in mulberry using cation exchange resin: Adsorption/desorption characteristics and process optimization

Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) is an α-glucosidase inhibitor with high food values. However, the complex and costly enrichment processes have greatly prevented its application. Herein, this study aimed to propose a simple and efficient enrichment process for DNJ from Morus alba L. extracts using cation exchange resins. The LSI and D113 resins were chosen due to their excellent adsorption and desorption properties. The adsorption characteristics agreed with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model. This adsorption was chemisorption, spontaneous, endothermic and entropy-driven. Furthermore, the concentration and pH of the extracts, desorption solvent, breakthrough and elution curves, sample loading and elution rate were investigated to optimize the enrichment process by resin column chromatography. The results also showed that the purity of DNJ was improved to 44.00 % with a total recovery of 78.21 % using the LSI-D113 combination strategy. This research demonstrated the industrial feasibility of DNJ enrichment using cation exchange resins. [Display omitted] •The adsorption/desorption features of cation exchange resins on DNJ were studied.•The adsorption process was fitted to the Langmuir and pseudo-first-order model.•The adsorption was spontaneous, endothermic, chemisorption and entropy-driven.•The cation exchange resin columns combination strategy improved DNJ enrichment.•The enrichment process was simple, low-cost and suited for large-scale production.