Isolation of all-trans lycopene by high-speed counter-current chromatography using a temperature-controlled solvent system

The effect of solvent system, partition coefficient, retention of stationary phase, column, revolution speed, and flow rate of mobile phase are well known parameters to effect HSCCC (high-speed counter-current chromatography) separations. Temperature effects on chromatographic techniques like HPLC and GC are well studied, but the influence of temperature on CCC solvent systems is hardly investigated. This paper presents the influence of temperature on several key parameters (partition coefficient, settling time, volume ratios) in the hydrophobic HSCCC solvent system hexane:dichloromethane:acetonitrile (30:11:18, v/v/v) used for the isolation of lycopene from tomato paste at 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C.