Question

A pharmaceutical company wants to extract an ingredient from pomace supplied by a certain food processing plant. What are two methods they might choose to use? How could different criteria and/or constraints the decision on how to extract the material? In three to five sentences describe two methods including one criterion and one constraint that would affect extraction methods.

Answer 1

Two common methods for extracting an ingredient from pomace are solvent extraction and cold pressing. Solvent extraction involves using a solvent to dissolve the desired compounds, which can be advantageous for maximizing yield, especially if the ingredient is less soluble in water. However, a primary constraint is the potential residual solvent in the final product, which raises health and safety concerns. On the other hand, cold pressing involves mechanically squeezing the pomace to extract the ingredient without the use of chemicals, ensuring a purer product. However, this method may yield less product and could suffer from a limitation in efficiency, requiring more raw material to achieve the same quantity of extracted ingredient. Different criteria, such as product purity, extraction yield, and regulatory compliance, will influence the choice between these methods, alongside constraints like cost, available technology, and environmental impact.