Natural product separation and valorization

The production of target compounds from plants as renewable resources gains more and more interest. On the one hand the application of fossil resources might be partially replaced and, on the other hand, some particular complex molecules are only accessible via isolation from the natural plant origin. The projects in this frame are concerned with investigating the potential of crystallization processes for isolation of a certain target compound from plant-based extracts. Subjects currently studied refer to separation and purification of pharmaceutically relevant substances from the related plant extract (e.g. Rutin) and the recovery and valorization of lignin with defined properties from lignocellulose within the biorefinery concept.