Purification of anthocyanins was carried outin a 1.83 L glass
column (hbed = 93 cm; ECO SR 50/999, YMC Europe) at room
temperature with XAD-16 as an adsorbent. This adsorbent was
used instead of XAD-7HP due to better availability. The flow
rate was 0.75 BV/h (pump: Series III, Labhut). In the loading
step, 11.5 L of ethanol-free raw extract was fed to the column.
After the loading step, the adsorbent bed was washed
with 3 BV of purified water. Desorption of anthocyanins was
done with 75 vol.% acidic (7 vol.% acetic acid) ethanol solution.
Removal of ethanol from the purified anthocyanin-rich
solution was done by evaporation (p = 1 atm, T = 60 ◦C).