Abstract Aqueous two-phase flotation (ATPF) consisting of 1000 g/mol polyethylene glycol (PEG 1000)/trisodium citrate was developed for the separation of α-Lactalbumin (α-La) from whey. The flotation efficiency (E) and purification factor (PF) of α-La were evaluated using the reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The effects of pH, concentration of trisodium citrate, flow velocity, flotation time and whey loading on the E and PF of α-La were investigated. An efficient separation of α-La from whey was achieved using ATPF with pH of 8.20, 5 mL of 0.50 g/mL PEG 1000 solution, 35 mL of 0.40 g/mL trisodium citrate solution and whey (20%, v/v), 30 mL/min of flow velocity and 42 min of flotation time. Under the optimal conditions, E and PF of α-La could reach 87.54% and 5.33, respectively. In addition, the kinetic process of the separation of α-La by ATPF of PEG 1000/trisodium citrate was investigated. The results showed that there were two stages in the separation process. Both stages obeyed the first-order kinetic equation, and the first stage was faster than the second one.

中文翻译：

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水相两相浮选从乳清中分离α-乳清蛋白的环保策略文摘

摘要 开发了由 1000 g/mol 聚乙二醇 (PEG 1000)/柠檬酸三钠组成的水相两相浮选 (ATPF)，用于从乳清中分离 α-乳清蛋白 (α-La)。α-La 的浮选效率 (E) 和净化系数 (PF) 使用反相高效液相色谱 (RP-HPLC) 进行评估。研究了 pH、柠檬酸三钠浓度、流速、浮选时间和乳清负载量对 α-La 的 E 和 PF 的影响。使用 pH 为 8.20 的 ATPF、5 mL 0.50 g/mL PEG 1000 溶液、35 mL 0.40 g/mL 柠檬酸三钠溶液和乳清（20%，v/v）实现了 α-La 与乳清的有效分离，流速为 30 mL/min，浮选时间为 42 min。在最佳条件下，α-La的E和PF分别达到87.54%和5.33。此外，研究了PEG 1000/柠檬酸三钠通过ATPF分离α-La的动力学过程。结果表明，分离过程分为两个阶段。两级都服从一级动力学方程，第一级比第二级快。