Optimization of separation process of sterols compounds saponification from abalone gonads

The solvent saponification method was applied in purification of raw coarse sterol which was extracted from abalone gonad in this research,and the content of crude sterol was 8.26%. The influences of three experimental parameters were saponification agentdosage,saponification time and saponification temperature. To optimize saponification parameters,respectively,Box-Behnken response surface methodology was designed and the optimum conditions were aponification ratio of1∶2,saponification temperature of 60 ℃ and saponification time of 7h. To verify the equation of linear regression,verification test was conducted under the optimum conditions.It showed that the average saponification rate was 62.21%( RSD=0.46%),which was close to the theoretical value( 62.35%).The content of total sterol in crude sterol was 14.08%,which was apparently higher than 8.62% of the content of sterol in alcohol extraction.The result showed the model reliability for optimizing abalone gonad sterols extraction.