Senna (Cassia Angustifolia)
Senna (Cassia Angustifolia)
Purity Levels
Sennosides By HPLC 20%
Mechotech designs and manufactures turnkey herbal extraction plants for Senna (Cassia angustifolia), standardised to Sennosides By HPLC 20%. Senna's characteristic laxative activity comes from its sennoside glycosides (principally sennosides A and B), found in both the leaflets (senna leaf) and the pods (senna pods) of the plant — commercial extraction draws on either raw material, with dried leaf the more widely traded form. We supply the complete machinery — leaf cleaning, milling, hydro-alcoholic extraction, filtration, vacuum concentration, closed-loop solvent recovery, standardisation and drying — to process Senna into a consistent, HPLC-standardised extract for the laxative and digestive-health formulation industries.
Mechotech's Senna plant is engineered around the specific chemistry of Cassia angustifolia: controlled hydro-alcoholic extraction at moderate temperature recovers the anthraquinone-glycoside sennosides from milled leaf while limiting hydrolytic loss, and a closed-loop solvent recovery system returns the bulk of the extraction solvent per batch. Built in SS 316L with electropolished product-contact surfaces, PLC-SCADA automation and full batch documentation, each plant is delivered as a commissioned turnkey system engineered to the Sennosides By HPLC 20% specification. Because senna extracts are typically formulated as OTC-regulated stimulant laxatives, batch traceability and assay consistency are built into the standardisation stage to support regulated-market dossiers.
Technical Specifications
| Product | Senna Extraction Plant |
|---|---|
| Botanical Name | Cassia angustifolia (syn. Senna alexandrina) |
| Raw Material | Dried Senna leaves (leaflets); Senna pods also processed on request |
| Plant Part | Leaf and/or pod |
| Extract Type | Standardised dry extract (powder) |
| Standardisation | Sennosides By HPLC 20% (other grades achievable on request) |
| 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 |
| 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 | Leaf 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
Raw Material Cleaning & Size Reduction
Dried Senna leaves (or pods, where specified) are cleaned of stalk and foreign matter, then milled to a uniform particle size to maximise solvent contact with the sennoside-bearing leaf tissue.
Hydro-Alcoholic Extraction
Milled Senna is charged into closed, jacketed SS 316L extraction vessels and extracted with a controlled hydro-alcoholic solvent system under regulated, moderate temperature to maximise sennoside recovery while limiting hydrolytic degradation.
Solid-Liquid Separation & Filtration
The extract slurry is clarified through a plate-and-frame filter press followed by cartridge polish filters, removing spent leaf marc ahead of concentration.
Vacuum Concentration
The filtered miscella is concentrated in a falling-film / vacuum evaporator, gently removing solvent under reduced pressure to protect the sennoside glycosides.
Solvent Recovery
A closed-loop recovery system condenses and recycles the recovered solvent back into production.
Standardisation
The concentrate is assayed by HPLC and adjusted to the declared specification — Sennosides By HPLC 20% — before drying.
Drying & Quality Control
The standardised Senna extract is spray- or vacuum-tray dried to a free-flowing, low-moisture powder, then released after HPLC assay, residual-solvent, heavy-metal, microbial, and moisture testing with full certificate-of-analysis documentation.
Major Plant Equipment
- Raw material cleaning 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
- Cartridge polish filters
- Falling-film / vacuum evaporator
- Closed-loop solvent recovery system
- Condensers & vacuum pumps
- HPLC quality-control laboratory setup
- Spray dryer / vacuum tray dryer
- CIP (clean-in-place) system
- PLC-SCADA control panel, electrical MCC & instrumentation
Plant Output
Applications
- Stimulant-laxative formulations (OTC-regulated in most markets)
- Digestive-health nutraceutical and dietary-supplement blends
- Pharmaceutical standardised ingredient supply
- Nutraceutical capsule and tablet manufacturing
- Herbal tea and functional beverage formulations
- Ayurvedic and traditional medicine preparations
- Export to regulated-market ingredient buyers
Key Features
GMP Hygienic SS 316L Construction
Electropolished SS 316L product-contact surfaces use GMP hygienic design, with CIP operation between batches.
Leaf and Pod Processing Flexibility
The extraction line is configurable for dried Senna leaf or pod as raw material, matched to the buyer's declared specification and supply source.
Closed-Loop Solvent Recovery
Integrated recovery returns extraction solvent for reuse.
HPLC-Standardised to Specification
In-process and batch-release HPLC assay are used to check the finished extract against its declared specification (Sennosides By HPLC 20%), supporting the customer's regulatory documentation.
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 Senna extraction?
What specification can the Senna plant achieve?
Does the plant process Senna leaf, pods, or both?
Is Senna extract subject to special regulatory handling?
What extraction method is used, and how much solvent is recovered?
What production capacities are available for the Senna plant?
What is the typical cost and delivery timeline for a Senna extraction plant?
Which industries use Senna extract, and does the plant support GMP qualification?
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