Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, have developed a low-cost membrane technology to produce psychoactive drugs and anti-ageing compounds from a wide range of agricultural resources.

The technology doesn’t require any costly organic solvents and uses only water. “Hence, the cost of the process and price of pharmaceuticals thereon is much cheaper than that of existing solvent-based separation technique,” the institute said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said the technology has enormous scope to replace existing costly organic solvent-based techniques and can be used for continuation mode of operation on an industrial scale. The technology will also support the Centre’s Make in India initiative, helping reduce the import of the said polyphenolic compounds and also create job opportunities in the agriculture sector, it added.

The technology has been developed by Prof. Mihir Kumar Purkait, head, Centre for Environment, and professor, department of chemical engineering, and his MTech student V.L. Dhadge. Work on the project started in 2009 and was completed in 2010. It received a patent in 2017.

Explaining the technology, Purkait told The Telegraph, “ The leaves/fruits/roots of either of these agricultural sources (camellia sinensis or tea plant, citrus fruits and peels, specially orange peels, berries, ginkgo, biloba, parsley, pulses, tea, sea buckthorn and onions) are cut into small pieces and extracted in hot water (less than 60 degrees Celsius). They are then screened and separated using different molecular weight cut-off membranes. The filtrates are then dried in freezer to get the powdered product. The selection and membrane is product specific.”

“The developed technology does not use any solvent and several energy-intensive unit operations (including distillation, evaporation, etc) as in the conventional technique. So, at least three-fold less cost will be found for the extracted product using our developed membrane-based technology,” Purkait said.

Surface protector

IIT Guwahati in a separate statement said it has launched a multi-surface protector named “BreatheEasy Safe 24”, in association with Berger Paints.

The product protects surfaces from germs, bacteria and viruses for 24 hours and prevent its spread. The product can protect desk, car seat, door handle, keys, buttons, bags, etc. from viruses and one can spray it from a distance of 20 to 25cm and wipe the surface after 30 seconds of spraying.

Alcohol-free and environment-friendly, the product has been developed by Prof. Biman B. Mandal, professor, department of biosciences and bioengineering, and his research team at IIT Guwahati.

Mandal said, “... We feel that this product would make our everyday lives safer in these trying times and beyond.”

As the Covid-19 pandemic has spread across the country, the government wanted the research institutions and corporates to merge ideas to form innovative solutions to help fight the coronavirus. Over the course of the past few months, India has led the way by building innovating products and BreatheEasy Safe 24 is a positive step in the journey, the institute said.

IIT Guwahati director Prof. T.G. Sitharam said, “IIT Guwahati has been instrumental in designing several projects in helping the society and the nation fight Covid-19. BreatheEasy Safe 24 is a true outcome of academia-industry collaboration led by IIT Guwahati.”