Extraction of Ascorbic Acid from Acerolas (Malpighia punicifolia L.)

Abstract

The acerola is considered to be the best natural source of ascorbic acid, it yields from two to four crops during the year, and the ascorbic acid is found dissolved in the juice. Therefore, a method which was used previously for separating and crystallizing the ascorbic acid present in the green walnut hulls, but which could not be applied commercially thereto, has been modified and applied to the acerola. The method involved the use of ion-exchange resins. A cation-exchange resin was used to lower the pH below 2 and an anion-exchange resin to absorb the ascorbic acid. This acid was eluted from an anion-exchange column with a dilute hydrochloric acid Solution. On a laboratory scale the yields obtained were relatively high and in a continuous commercial process the yield should be about 88 percent.