(German title: Vom Naturstoff zum Wertstoff )

The purification process of plant ingredients such as triterpenes usually starts with a digestion of the raw material. This pre-treatment is necessary to enable efficient extraction or other isolation of the target component(s). The aim of pre-treatment is to break down or chemically decompose the plants in such a way that the product is either released into solution or becomes more accessible to solvents with the least possible loss of product.

In addition to physical or chemical methods, the use of enzymes for plant disintegration is an option. As part of the overall project, various enzymes and enzyme mixtures are to be investigated with regard to their suitability for releasing triterpenes. The aim is not only to obtain these products. Rather, the process to be developed should generate by-products (e.g. pharmacologically relevant amino acids and basic chemicals) so that the raw material used can be utilized as completely as possible. The aim is to develop a model process that can be transferred to the use of other plant materials. The aim of this preliminary project was to investigate the extent to which enzymatically digested material (sage) can provide a different product spectrum. For this purpose, various enzyme cocktails (proteases, cellulases) were used in combination with mechanical processes and made available for extraction for the working group Bart.