Fractionation is aseparation process in which a certain quantity of amixture (of gasses, solids, liquids,enzymes, orisotopes, or asuspension) is divided during aphase transition, into a number of smaller quantities (fractions) in which thecomposition varies according to agradient.[1][2] Fractions are collected based on differences in a specific property of the individual components. A common trait in fractionations is the need to find an optimum between the amount of fractions collected and the desiredpurity in each fraction. Fractionation makes it possible to isolate more than two components in a mixture in a single run. This property sets it apart from other separation techniques.
Fractionation is widely employed in many branches of science and technology. Mixtures of liquids and gasses are separated byfractional distillation by difference in boiling point. Fractionation of components also takes place incolumn chromatography by a difference in affinity betweenstationary phase and themobile phase. Infractional crystallization andfractional freezing,chemical substances are fractionated based on difference in solubility at a given temperature. Incell fractionation,cell components are separated by difference inmass.
A typical protocol to isolate a pure chemical agent from natural origin is step-by-step separation of extracted components based on differences in theirbioassay-guided fractionation physicochemical properties, and assessing thebiological activity, followed by next round of separation and assaying. Typically, such work is initiated after a given crude extract is deemed "active" in a particular in vitro assay.
The process of blood fractionation involves separation of blood into its main components. Blood fractionation refers generally to the process of separation using a centrifuge (centrifugation), after which three major blood components can be visualized: plasma, buffy coat and erythrocytes (blood cells). These separated components can be analyzed and often further separated.
Fractionation is also used for culinary purposes, ascoconut oil,palm oil, andpalm kernel oil are fractionated to produce oils of different viscosities, that may be used for different purposes. These oils typically use fractional crystallization (separation by solubility at temperatures) for the separation process instead of distillation.Mango oil is an oil fraction obtained during the processing of mango butter.
Milk can also be fractionated to recover themilk protein concentrate or themilk basic proteins fraction.
