You are currently viewing New technology enables large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

New technology enables large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

BEIJING: Chinese researchers have developed a new technology to produce artemisinin, the top choice for malaria treatment, on a large scale.

Sweet wormwood was used in ancient Chinese therapy to treat various illnesses, including fevers typical of malaria. Nearly five decades ago, Chinese scientists identified its active ingredient, artemisinin.

In 2005, the World Health Organization recommended Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) as the most effective malaria treatment available. Global demand for artemisinin then increased, but the quality and supply have not been stable.

According to researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, due to its complex structure, artemisinin is currently difficult and not economically feasible to chemically synthesize.

The traditional industrial method to produce artemisinin is to treat sweet wormwood leaves with organic solvents like petroleum ether.

The extraction process is long, energy consumption is high and productivity is low.

In the study, the IPE researchers proposed to enhance the contact between the solvent and the leaves by reflux to speed up the artemisinin extraction.

The extraction time was reduced from seven hours to four and a half hours.

After treating sweet wormwood leaves with solvents, they optimized the evaporation process with a thin film evaporator, an apparatus that provides a continuous evaporation process, especially for heat-sensitive products, to retrieve the solvents.

Compared to the traditional process, the time it takes to produce the artemisinin concentrate is reduced by 87.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the purity of the final product is increased to more than 99 percent, and energy consumption is also reduced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.