Continuous purification of lysozyme from chicken egg white using weak-strong acidic dual functional ion exchange nanofiber membranes.

This study reports the first use of dual-functional weak-strong acidic ion exchange nanofiber membranes for continuous lysozyme purification from chicken egg white (CEW). Lysozyme, a natural antimicrobial protein (E1105), requires selective separation from other CEW proteins. The process was optimized under mild, food-compatible conditions and assessed by hydrodynamic analysis, dynamic binding capacity, recovery yield, and purification factor. A 20 mL CEW solution (15 mg mL, pH 7) processed at 0.1 mL min through three membrane layers achieved 97.75 % adsorption. Washing at 0.5 mL min caused only 2.67 % loss. Two-step elution (0.6 and 1.0 mol L NaCl) yielded 18.20-fold purity enhancement and 95.55 % recovery. The system avoided extreme pH, maintained reusability, and ensured uniform flow. This scalable, sustainable platform is promising for food-grade lysozyme recovery and broader protein purification from complex food matrices.