Horse Chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastanum)
Horse Chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastanum)
Purity Levels
Aescin By HPLC 10%
Mechotech designs and manufactures turnkey herbal extraction plants for Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), standardised to Aescin By HPLC 10%. The seed (the chestnut/conker itself, not the leaf or bark) is the commercial source of Aescin — a complex of triterpene saponin glycosides responsible for the botanical's well-established venotonic (venous-health) activity. We supply the complete machinery — seed cleaning, milling, defatting where required, hydro-alcoholic extraction, filtration, vacuum concentration, closed-loop solvent recovery, standardisation and drying — to process dried Horse Chestnut seed into a consistent extract for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.
Mechotech's Horse Chestnut plant is engineered around the specific chemistry of Aesculus hippocastanum seed: Aescin is a mixture of closely related triterpene saponin glycosides that require controlled hydro-alcoholic extraction to recover efficiently, and the seed's naturally high starch and lipid content calls for extraction and filtration equipment sized to handle a heavier-bodied miscella than typical leaf or root botanicals. Built in SS 316L with electropolished product-contact surfaces, PLC-SCADA automation and full documentation, each plant is delivered as a commissioned turnkey system engineered to the Aescin By HPLC 10% specification.
Technical Specifications
| Product | Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) Extraction Plant |
|---|---|
| Botanical Name | Aesculus hippocastanum L. |
| Raw Material | Dried Horse Chestnut seed (conker) |
| Plant Part | Seed |
| Extract Type | Standardised dry extract (powder) |
| Standardisation | Aescin By HPLC 10% |
| Extraction Method | Hydro-alcoholic solvent extraction (closed, jacketed SS 316L extractors) |
| Product-contact Material | SS 316L, electropolished, CIP-cleanable |
| Filtration System | Plate-and-frame filter press with cartridge polish filtration, sized for starch/lipid-bearing miscella |
| Concentration System | Falling-film / vacuum evaporator with closed-loop solvent recovery |
| Drying System | Spray dryer or vacuum tray dryer |
| Automation | PLC-SCADA with recipe management, batch traceability and production reporting |
| Plant Capacity | Configured to requirement |
| Utility Requirements | Steam, chilled/cooling water, compressed air, soft water, power (project-specific) |
| Compliance | GMP, HACCP hygienic design; full documentation for qualification |
| Final Product Form | Free-flowing standardised extract powder |
Plant Capacities
| Plant Scale | Seed Throughput | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Configured to your feedstock and trial plan | Product development, parameter validation |
| Semi-Commercial | Configured between pilot and commercial scale | Contract manufacturing, scale-up trials |
| Commercial | Configured to raw-material supply and confirmed buyer volume | Export-grade continuous production |
Capacity is configured to raw-material supply and confirmed buyer volume; we recommend a pilot plant to validate parameters before scaling.
Manufacturing Process
Seed Cleaning & Size Reduction
Dried Horse Chestnut seeds are cleaned to remove husk fragments and foreign matter, then milled to a uniform particle size to expose the saponin-bearing tissue for efficient solvent contact.
Hydro-Alcoholic Extraction
Milled seed is charged into closed, jacketed SS 316L extraction vessels and extracted with a controlled hydro-alcoholic solvent system under regulated temperature and multiple cycles to maximise Aescin recovery.
Solid-Liquid Separation & Filtration
The starch- and lipid-bearing extract slurry is clarified through a plate-and-frame filter press followed by cartridge polish filters, sized to handle the heavier-bodied miscella typical of seed-derived extracts.
Vacuum Concentration
The filtered miscella is concentrated in a falling-film / vacuum evaporator under reduced pressure to preserve the saponin glycosides while achieving the required concentration factor.
Solvent Recovery
A closed-loop recovery system condenses and recycles the extraction solvent back into production.
Standardisation
The concentrate is assayed by HPLC and adjusted to the declared Aescin By HPLC 10% specification before drying.
Drying & Quality Control
The standardised Horse Chestnut extract is spray- or vacuum-tray dried to a free-flowing powder, then released after HPLC assay, residual-solvent, heavy-metal, microbial, and moisture testing with full certificate-of-analysis documentation.
Major Plant Equipment
- Seed cleaning and de-husking system
- Hammer mill (size reduction)
- Stainless-steel hydro-alcoholic extraction vessels (jacketed, SS 316L)
- Solvent storage tanks
- Solvent transfer pumps
- Plate heat exchangers
- Plate-and-frame filter press / pressure leaf filter (heavy-duty, for starch/lipid load)
- Cartridge polish filters
- Falling-film / vacuum evaporator
- Closed-loop solvent recovery system
- Condensers & vacuum pumps
- Spray dryer / vacuum tray dryer
- CIP (clean-in-place) system
- PLC-SCADA control panel, electrical MCC & instrumentation
Plant Output
Applications
- Venous-health and circulatory-support (venotonic) pharmaceutical formulations
- Nutraceutical capsule, tablet, and supplement manufacturing
- Topical gel and cream formulations for leg-vein and circulatory-care products
- Pharmaceutical standardised ingredient supply
- Cosmetic active-ingredient supply
- Traditional herbal medicine preparations
- Export to regulated-market ingredient buyers, including EU markets with established venotonic use
Key Features
GMP Hygienic SS 316L Construction
Electropolished SS 316L product-contact surfaces use GMP hygienic design, with CIP operation between batches.
Closed-Loop Solvent Recovery
Integrated recovery returns solvent for reuse each batch, reducing fresh-solvent consumption.
Filtration Sized for Seed Feedstock
Filter press and polish-filter capacity account for the starch and lipid content of Horse Chestnut seed, avoiding premature filter blinding.
Standardised to Specification
In-process and batch-release HPLC assay are used to check the finished Horse Chestnut extract against its declared Aescin By HPLC 10% specification.
Integrated Drying
A matched spray/vacuum dryer produces a free-flowing, low-moisture powder ready for encapsulation and blending.
Scalable Batch Capacity
Plants are configured to requirement from pilot scale upward, with modular expansion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Mechotech supply the complete machinery for Horse Chestnut extraction?
Which part of the Horse Chestnut is used, and what is Aescin?
What specification can the Horse Chestnut plant achieve?
What extraction method is used, and how much solvent is recovered?
What production capacities are available for the Horse Chestnut plant?
What is the typical cost and delivery timeline for a Horse Chestnut extraction plant?
Which industries use the Horse Chestnut plant, and does the plant support GMP qualification?
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