NZ541004A - Cartridge with filter located below extraction material which is suspended during upward fluid movement and recollected during downward fluid movement - Google Patents

Abstract

Filter 2 is located under extraction material 5 contained in the cartridge. During upward fluid movement the extraction material 5 is suspended in the fluid and is recollected in the cartridge on downward fluid flow.

Description

541004 PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 4: $250.00 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION After Provisional No: 541004 Dated: 28 June 2005 EXTRACTION EQUIPMENT WE DEC International NZ Limited, a New Zealand Company of 558 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 EXTRACTION EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to extraction equipment.

Preferably the extraction equipment is used to extract compounds from a fluid.

Even more preferable the extraction equipment is used to extract bioactives from milk, however this should not be seen as limiting.

BACKGROUND ART In New Zealand, most dairy animals such as cows are generally milked twice daily, the milk being collected in a main storage vat before being transported in 10 bulk to a milk treatment station.

The milk is then processed into a range of products, including pasteurised milk, powdered milk, butter, cheese or milk derivatives.

The production of butter and cheese results in large volumes of by-products such as whey, these by-products can be further processed on-site or transported to 15 another specialist treatment station. A number of components can be fractionated from such milk by-products including carbohydrates, immunoglobulins, whey protein bioactives such as lactoferrin and so forth.

The standard processing of milk and milk by-products thus results in high transport and handling costs associated with processing such large volumes of 20 milk.

Further, due to the time delay between the collection of milk on-farm and its subsequent processing off site, milk proteins such as bioactives may be subjected to proteolytic degradation by enzymes such as proteases, or may be 2 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 inactivated or lose activity through a number of other interactions.

The act of transporting and processing the milk may also denature a number of bioactive proteins through physical handling or heating of the milk.

To attempt to overcome some of these problems, NZ 280724 disclosed a 5 process for the isolation of endogenous milk proteins by on-farm processing of milk using standard separation techniques such as chromatographic resins.

NZ 280724 discloses a process whereby specific targeted biomedical or biochemical constituents of milk are removed during farm milk handling.

The apparatus as described in NZ 280724 allows for separation of bioactive or 10 targeted milk components in the minimum amount of time, thus ensuring minimal degradation or loss of activity of the bioactive proteins. The apparatus described is for use in either the milking claw, or on the milk line pipes anywhere prior to the collection tank. The apparatus however has several disadvantages, including the following: While the methods described in NZ 280724 work well in an experimental situation, the volume of milk collected during a standard milking often means standard separation techniques are not optimal.

Chromatographic resins are primarily designed to process small volumes of liquid, usually at low flow rates to ensure good component separation. 20 Increasing the flow rate not only reduces the degree of separation but may damage the resin or chromatographic column. As large amounts of resin would be required to cope with normal milking volumes without overloading, these techniques may be prohibitively expensive.

The separation techniques utilised are limited in both the volume and also the 3 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 rate at which milk can be processed at any one time. As such, this could result in long delays during standard twice daily milking, and require large volumes of chromatographic resins to prevent overloading.

In many situations it is thus desirable for components to be separated before 5 milk enters the bulk milk line. The smaller volume of milk needing to be processed ensures a better degree of component separation in the minimum amount of time, and also reduces the likelihood of the separation device being overloaded.

Therefore, to be effective separation devices would need to be incorporated into 10 each stall of a milking system. At present, this would make them prohibitively expensive for a standard on-farm situation.

NZ 523369 discloses a method of on-farm separation using an automated milking device, whereby cows are milked throughout the day in small numbers. This results in smaller volumes of milk at lower flow rates, which therefore leads 15 to increased separation efficiency.

However, the extraction equipment disclosed in NZ 280274 and NZ 523369 include only cartridges which are placed in-line in a milk flow path, through which the milk flows. Extraction in this way is inefficient due to compacting of the extraction matrix.

Other disadvantages of in-line extraction include the following: Firstly, a large amount of resin may be required, this will increase the cost. Increased resin volumes would be required as the cross-section of the in-line device would need to be large to keep the linear flow rate (volumetric flow rate divided by cross-sectional area of the device) within reasonable limits for 25 extraction to prevent low extraction yield. Secondly, long extraction times at low 4 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 flow rates may be required due to the need for keeping the linear flow rate low if the amount of resin is minimised.

All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that 5 any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form 10 part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.

It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise' shall have an 15 inclusive meaning - i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.

It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at 20 least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cartridge for 25 extraction of components from a fluid, including: James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 a reservoir capable of holding extraction material, and at least one port for ingress and/or egress of the fluid, and a filter characterised in that the filter is positioned underneath the extraction material and above the port, wherein the filter is configured to keep the extraction material separate from the port, but allow the fluid to flow through the filter and access the extraction material.

Preferably the fluid may be a body fluid that has been removed from the body of 10 an animal, such as milk, blood or urine, however, this should not be seen as a limitation.

Most preferably the fluid may be milk, and shall be referred to as such herein.

Preferably the milk is obtained from a cow. However, this should not be seen as a limitation as it may be anticipated that this invention will also be applicable to 15 milk from other milking animals such as goats, sheep and so forth.

The term milk as used herein should also be taken to include colostrum or milk from late lactation as well as milk from mid lactation or sub-fractions of milk taken during part of a milking.

In a preferred embodiment the component to be extracted from milk may be a 20 bioactive, and shall be referred to as such herein.

Alternatively, the component may be any other component present in the milk, such as endogenous milk proteins, fats, enzymes, cells, ions, nucleic acids and so forth. 6 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 Preferably the cartridge may have a structure such that a number of cartridges are able to be stacked one on top of the other. This allows a number of cartridges to be stored in a small space, such as a refrigerated unit for on farm extraction of milk components. A cartridge may be stored in a refrigerated unit, 5 then removed and used for extraction, then returned to the refrigerated unit in order to keep it chilled until the extracted component can be removed from the extraction material.

Preferably the extraction material is specific to a particular component, or range of components to be extracted from the fluid. The extraction material may 10 include, but is not limited to; a chromatographic resin such as an ion-exchange resin, a hydrophobic/hydrophilic resin, an affinity resin (containing biological ligands), or a metal affinity resin. Alternatively the extraction material may be, or include any other extraction material suitable for extraction of the required component.

Preferably the cartridge may be stored at a reduced temperature, such as a refrigerated unit. The cartridge may be moved from the refrigerated unit into position where fluid can be introduced through the cartridge in order for extraction to take place.

Preferably movement of the cartridge may be done robotically. This decreases 20 the labour and time required from the farmer or other user of the system.

Preferably the port through which the fluid may ingress and/or egress may be located underneath the cartridge in order to ensure an upward flow of fluid through the cartridge and into the extraction chamber, in which extraction may take place.

Preferably the reservoir may be of a sufficient size to hold only the extraction 7 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 material. However, this should not be seen as limiting as the cartridge reservoir may be large enough to hold the fluid from which components are to be extracted.

If the reservoir is of a size such that it holds only extraction material, in order for 5 extraction to take place the cartridge may be inserted into the bottom of a larger reservoir or tank in which extraction takes place. This larger reservoir will herein be referred to as an extraction chamber.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an extraction system for the extraction of components from a fluid, including: an extraction chamber, and at least one cartridge substantially as previously described, configured to engage with substantially the base of the extraction chamber.

In a preferred embodiment the extraction system may also include equipment to remove and replace the cartridge from the base of the extraction chamber.

In a preferred embodiment the equipment may be configured to remove a cartridge from the base of the extraction chamber, move the used cartridge to a used cartridge stack, collect an unused cartridge from the unused cartridge stack and position the unused cartridge on the base of the extraction chamber.

In a preferred embodiment the extraction system may also include a unit for 20 stacking used and unused cartridges.

In a preferred embodiment the unit for stacking cartridges is a refrigerated unit.

In a preferred embodiment the extraction system may also include an inlet for a further fluid, the inlet configured to release the fluid over substantially the entire 8 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 interior of the extraction chamber. This inlet may be used either to rinse the chamber after extraction has taken place, to ensure that all the extraction material is recollected in the cartridge (see discussion later), or for cleaning in place of the extraction chamber, and other associated systems at regular 5 intervals.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of use for a cartridge for the extraction of components from a fluid, characterised in that the fluid is introduced substantially upwards through the cartridge, wherein the 10 fluid flow is configured to suspend the extraction material.

Preferably the upward flow of fluid through the cartridge into the extraction chamber wherein extraction takes place, results in the suspension of the extraction material from the cartridge throughout the fluid and therefore also the extraction chamber, thereby allowing efficient extraction to occur.

Preferably the port may be positioned directly below the cartridge allowing flow of the fluid straight upwards through the cartridge into the extraction chamber. However, this should not be seen as limiting as the port may be located in any other orientation such as the side of the cartridge base, which still allows fluid to be introduced in a substantially upward direction through the cartridge, and into 20 the extraction chamber.

Preferably the port may contain at least two inlet/outlets.

Preferably the port may contain at least one inlet for the ingress of the fluid, and at least one outlet for the egress of the fluid, allowing the fluid to be removed from the port through a separate outlet. 9 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 Preferably once extraction has taken place, the fluid is removed from the extraction chamber in a downwards direction back through the cartridge. This allows the extraction material to be recollected in the cartridge. The extraction material recollected in the cartridge should include the extracted bioactive or 5 other component from the fluid.

Preferably the extraction chamber also includes a stirrer.

Preferably the stirrer has at least one stirring paddle which acts to keep the extraction material suspended in the fluid while extraction takes place.

Preferably the stirrer has at least one stirring paddle close to the cartridge in 10 order to prevent the filter of the cartridge being blocked when the fluid is removed from the extraction chamber.

In some embodiments the stirrer speed can be adjusted in order to allow maximum extraction per time, from the volume of fluid which is being treated. The stirrer speed may also be maximised to keep the extraction material 15 suspended evenly throughout the fluid. However, the stirrer speed should not be fast enough to promote foaming of the fluid, which may lead to loss of bioactive activity or protein denaturation.

Preferable the extraction chamber may also include an inlet for a further fluid. This inlet may be used to rinse the extraction chamber between extractions. 20 Alternatively it may be used for cleaning in place at regular intervals.

In addition to separating endogenous bioactive components from milk, the method of the present invention may also be used to remove components unacceptable in milk. These include somatic cells, antibiotics, hormones and so forth. Currently if milk is found to be contaminated with these components it is 25 dumped, with the farmer being required to pay substantial penalties.

James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 The present invention may also be used to remove endogenous milk components from milk (such as beta-lactoglobulin and lactose) to make such milk acceptable to consumers with allergies to dairy products.

Another application of the present invention includes the processing of milk from 5 transgenic animals which produce a specific protein in their milk. As the protein of interest is known, a specific separation device or protocol could be designed to isolate the protein of interest, without altering the standard milk composition.

Early removal of bioactive milk components minimises the degradation of these components and any loss of activity that usually occurs during standard milk 10 processing procedures.

Further, immediately isolating the compounds of interest reduces the amount of time the components may be subjected to enzymatic or microbial degradation whilst being stored.

The present invention therefore provides an improved extraction device and 15 method for the extraction of compounds, such as bioactives from a fluid, such as milk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the 20 accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of a cartridge according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic layout of the extraction process according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and 11 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 Figure 3 shows the draining rate of the milk/extraction material at different stirring rates.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows the cartridge (1), including a filter (2), a rim around a top edge (3) 5 an indented base which acts as a port (4), wherein the reservoir is filled with the correct volume (approx. 250 mL) of extraction material (5). Extraction material which has previously been used with the present invention includes cation exchange resins such as, SP Sepharose Fast Flow and SP Sepharose Big Beads (both sourced from Amersham Biosciences).

Figure 2 shows a representation of the extraction equipment and process.

Figure 2 shows a refrigerated unit (6), including two stacks of cartridges, one stack for unused cartridges (7) and one stack for used cartridges (8), and areas for the removal (9) and return (10) of cartridges to same.

A robotic trolley (13) is positioned underneath the required stack (7 or 8) and 15 then the appropriate drive mechanism (14) or (15), is pushed through an aperture in the trolley (13) to remove or replace a cartridge in the refrigerated unit. To release a cartridge from the stack (7) the drive mechanism (14) is pushed through an aperture in the trolley (13) allowing a cartridge to be deposited on the trolley. The trolley then moves the cartridge to an extraction 20 chamber (16) A base tray (17) moves upwards to seal the cartridge in place at the base of the extraction chamber (16). The base tray (17) includes a fluid (milk) inlet port (20) attached to a milk line (21) and a pump (22). When extraction is not taking place a collection cartridge (23) is maintained in position below the extraction chamber 25 (16). The extraction chamber (16) also has a lid (24) and a stirrer. The stirrer 12 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 includes a shaft (25), two stirring paddles (26) and (27), an inlet (28) and a stirrer motor (29).

The cartridges (1) (see Figure 1) are designed such that they have a rim around the top outside edge (3) and an indented bottom (4). This prevents the portions 5 used to seal the cartridge into position below the extraction chamber being in contact with other cartridges while stacked.

The cartridges (1) are stacked in the refrigerated unit (6). The unused cartridges (7) need to be stored in a refrigerated unit in order to prevent the necessity of storing the extraction material (5) in approximately 20% ethanol. Extraction 10 material, specifically chromatographic resin is usually stored in 20% ethanol to prevent contamination. However this would need to be washed out of the extraction material before extraction could take place.

Washing ethanol out of the extraction material (5) within the cartridge is not viable as ethanol may affect the activity of the bioactive being extracted. It also 15 adds ethanol to the bulk milk, which if the milk is undergoing further processing, may be detrimental or undesirable.

Storing the cartridges (1) at a lowered refrigerated temperature allows the extraction material (5) to be washed through with distilled water for storage. Storage in distilled water is not detrimental to either the bioactive or the milk.

In the refrigerated unit (6), cartridges prior to use (7) and those which have been used (8) are stored in separate stacks.

In the bottom of the refrigerated unit (6), below the stack of cartridges (7, 8), there are provided locking discs (11, 12) which the rim (3) of the cartridge sits on to prevent the cartridges from falling through the removal and return openings (9, 25 10) when they are not in use. 13 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 The trolley (13) moves the unused cartridges from the unused cartridge stack (7) to the extraction chamber (16).

Specifically, to remove a cartridge from the stack (7), the first drive mechanism (14) lifts the cartridge slightly so that the rim (3) is no longer sitting on the locking 5 disc (11). The tray (14) then deactivates the locking disc (11) which allows the cartridge to be removed through the opening (9). The operation of the locking mechanism is timed to prevent the next cartridge from also being removed from the refrigerated unit.

The trolley (13) then moves the cartridge to the extraction chamber (16), where a 10 base tray (17) is raised to position the cartridge in the correct position at the base of the extraction chamber (16) for extraction to take place. The cartridge is sealed onto the extraction chamber via a sealing ring both above (18) and below (19) the cartridge. These may be normal O-rings, or a soft material such as EPDM which allow efficient sealing of the cartridge onto the extraction chamber.

The collection cartridge (23) is positioned under the extraction chamber (16) when the chamber is not in use. This cartridge allows for collection of any residual milk or resin which may be in the extraction chamber, and also seals the chamber to allow cleaning in place (CIP). The collection cartridge (23) is automatically moved to the side when an extraction cartridge is moved into 20 position.

The base tray (17) on which the cartridge is positioned in order for it to be sealed into the extraction chamber also includes a milk inlet port (20) and the fluid (milk) line (21). Once the extraction cartridge is sealed in place a pump (22) is used to pump the milk into the extraction chamber (16) in an upwards direction through 25 the cartridge. This upwards milk input results in the extraction material being suspended throughout the milk. 14 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 Once milk has been introduced into the extraction chamber (16), extraction may take place. During this process the stirrer is used to mix the fluid throughout the chamber and thereby maintain the suspension of the extraction material throughout the milk.

The stirrer, run by the stirrer motor (29) includes a stirring shaft (25) and, a set of stirrer paddles (26) located approximately centrally in the middle of the extraction chamber (16). This stirrer (26) acts to keep the extraction material suspended throughout the extraction chamber (16) during the extraction process.

The time required for extraction to occur is dependent on: the bioactive to be 10 extracted, the extraction material used, the volume of extraction material used, and the volume of milk.

Preferably the cartridge will contain a higher volume of extraction material than is required to reach equilibrium with the amount of bioactive present in the milk. This allows for faster and more efficient extraction.

Once the required time for extraction to occur has expired, the pump (22) which was used to pump the fluid into the extraction chamber (16) is reversed and the milk is pumped back out of the extraction chamber.

During removal of the milk, the impeller/stirrer paddle (27) at the bottom of the stirrer provides a lift to the extraction material-fluid slurry. This lifting action 20 prevents the cartridge filter from becoming blocked, and also allows efficient drainage of the extraction chamber and recollection of the extraction material (including the extracted bioactive) into the cartridge.

It is important that the stirrer speed is controlled during draining of the extraction chamber. This prevents frothing of the milk by the stirrer (26) during the period 25 when the milk level is dropping below the level of same.

James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 At the beginning of the draining process the stirrer is run on a slow speed, while the level of milk is above the stirrer paddle (26). Once the milk level has dropped below the stirrer paddle (26) the speed can be increased so the stirrer paddle (27) prevents blocking of the cartridge filter. Blockage of the cartridge filter is 5 generally only an issue towards the end of the draining process, once the volume of extraction material recollected in the cartridge increases.

Once all the milk has been drained from the extraction chamber (16), the extraction chamber (16) undergoes a quick wash with warm water, introduced via the inlet (28). This washes the last of the milk and extraction material out of the 10 extraction chamber (16) and back into the cartridge. This process also washes the majority of milk out of the extraction material in the cartridge and back into the main milk line through which the milk was pumped out of the extraction chamber. The warm water introduced through the inlet (28) is either delivered by line pressure of the warm water supply or via a pump (not shown).

During the process of extraction the base tray (17) holding the cartridge onto the extraction chamber is locked to prevent release of the cartridge and milk from the extraction chamber should there be a loss of power to the pump, or other mechanical failure.

Once washing has occurred, the base tray (17) is lowered to break the seal of 20 the cartridge to the extraction chamber.

The robotic trolley (13) moves the used cartridge to the refrigerated unit (6) and inserts it onto the bottom of the used cartridge stack (8). To insert a used cartridge into stack (8) the second tray (15) lifts the cartridge until the top of same deactivates the locking disc (12) which allows the cartridge to be inserted 25 through opening (10). The operation of the locking mechanism is timed so that when the second tray (15) is lowered the locking disk (12) is reactivated so that 16 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 the used cartridge ends up with the top rim (3) sitting on the locking disc (12) Once the cartridge has been used, (and contains extracted bioactives) it is important that it is kept chilled. This is because most bioactives are heat labile, and therefore may become inactivated or denatured at increased temperatures.

Chilling also reduces the risk of contamination, as the extraction material has only undergone a quick wash with warm water to wash excess milk out of the extraction material within the cartridge.

Once the above process is completed, it can be repeated with a new cartridge and a new volume of milk, preferably that from a different cow. As such the 10 process can be repeated multiple times.

It is possible to have cartridges containing a resin for different extraction compounds in one stack. Alternatively the refrigerated unit might contain a carousel of cartridges containing resin for different components which can be selected automatically depending on which cows' milk is being treated, or what 15 bioactive is being collected.

At regular intervals the extraction chamber (16) can undergo a CIP cycle. The collection cartridge (23) is in position below the extraction chamber for CIP. The collection cartridge has wider rims than that of cartridges used for extraction; this allows the flanges around the sealing portions (18, 19) to be cleaned in case 20 there was any leakage of milk onto these areas during the extraction process or the insertion or removal of a cartridge.

The inlet (28) is also used to introduce the required components for CIP. The components used for this would be the same as for any other milk processing equipment. 17 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55 The used cartridges (8) can then either be moved to a separate station to allow for removal of the extracted component from the extraction material on-farm, or can be collected and taken to a processing plant for same.

Figure 3 shows the increased draining rate when the milk-extraction material is 5 kept suspended as a slurry during the draining process.

Slurry draining experiments were carried out in a 0.5 m Perspex tube (70 mm i.d.) with a 44 pm stainless steel filter (mesh 325) (Mounts Wire Industries, Auckland, New Zealand) across one end, fabricated by placing the mesh (75 mm diameter) across the end of the tube, inserting the tube into a tightly fitting funnel 10 and sealing with silicon sealant. A 12 mm PCV ball valve was attached to the outlet of the funnel. The tube was clamped in a vertical position with the mesh at the bottom and a three-laded turbine impeller was inserted to a height of 5 cm above the mesh. Raw milk at 35°C was poured in to a height of 35 cm and swelled, and 45.8 ml. of drained media was added (equivalent to 250mL media 15 per 15 L of milk). After about 30 seconds of mixing, the outlet valve was opened and the height of the milk/media slurry was recorded against time.

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended 20 claims. 18 James & Wells Ref: 124731/55

Claims (28)

WHAT l/WE CLAIM IS:

1. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid, including: a reservoir capable of holding extraction material, and at least one port for ingress and/or egress of the fluid, and a filter characterised in that the filter is positioned underneath the extraction material and above the port, wherein the filter is configured to keep the extraction material separate from the port, but allow the fluid to flow substantially upwards through the filter and access the extraction material, which is suspended in the fluid during extraction and recollected in the filter when the fluid egresses substantially downwards through the filter to the port.

2. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cartridge is configured to stack either on top of, or below other cartridges.

3. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in either claim 1 or 2 wherein the reservoir is of a size sufficient to only hold the extraction material.

4. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the cartridge is configured to engage with the base of an extraction chamber. 19 Intellectual Property Office of N.2. -8 NOV 2006 RECEIVED

5. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the extraction material is chromatographic resin.

6. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the port contains one inlet for the ingress of a fluid, and one outlet for the egress of the fluid.

7. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the port is positioned below the cartridge.

8. An extraction system for the extraction of components from a fluid, including: an extraction chamber, and at least one cartridge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, configured to engage with substantially the base of the extraction chamber.

9. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in claim 8, wherein a stirrer is positioned within the extraction chamber.

10. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in either claim 8 or 9, wherein the stirrer has at least one stirring paddle positioned close to the cartridge.

11. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10 wherein the extraction system includes equipment for removal and replacement of cartridges from the base of the extraction chamber.

12. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in claim 11 wherein the equipment is configured to a) remove a cartridge from the base of the extraction chamber, Intellectual Property 2Q Office of N.Z. - 8 NOV 2006 n r— ^ r— i % i i— r"x b) move the used cartridge to a used cartridge stack, c) collect an unused cartridge from the unused cartridge stack; and d) position the unused cartridge on the base of the extraction chamber.

13. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12 wherein the extraction system also includes a unit for stacking used and unused cartridges.

14. An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in claim 13 wherein the unit for stacking cartridges is a refrigerated unit.

15 An extraction system for the extraction of components from the fluid as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 14 wherein the extraction chamber also includes a fluid inlet for use in rinsing the interior of the extraction chamber.

16. A method of using a cartridge for the extraction of components from a fluid, the cartridge including: a reservoir capable of holding extraction material, and at least one port for ingress and/or egress of the fluid, and a filter positioned underneath the extraction material and above the port, keeping the extraction material separate from the port, the method characterised by the steps of a) introducing the fluid substantially upwards through the filter into the cartridge, b) the fluid suspending the extraction material in the fluid during the extraction period. Intellectual Property 21 Office of N.2. - 8 NOV 2006 c) collecting the extracting material in the filter as the fluid egresses substantially downwards through the filter.

17. A method of using an extraction system, as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 15 for the extraction of components from a fluid, the method characterised by the step of introducing the fluid substantially upwards through the cartridge and past the extraction material for extracting the components from the fluid.

18. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in claim 17, including the additional steps of removing the fluid from the extraction chamber substantially downwards through the cartridge, and collecting the extraction material in the cartridge.

19. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 18, including the additional steps of: removing a used cartridge from the base of the extraction chamber once extraction has taken place, moving the used cartridge to a used cartridge stack, removing an unused cartridge from an unused cartridge stack, moving an positioning the unused cartridge onto the base of the extraction chamber. 22 Intellectual Property Office of N.Z. - 8 NOV 2006 RECEIVED

20. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 19 including the additional step of storing the cartridge(s) at a reduced temperature before and after extraction.

21. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the step of moving the cartridge between a reduced temperature unit and the extraction equipment is robotic.

22. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 21 including the additional step of stirring the fluid and extraction material in the extraction chamber.

23. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 22 including the additional step of adjusting the stirring speed to prevent frothing of the fluid.

24. A method of extracting a compound from a fluid as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 23 including the additional step of rinsing the extraction chamber once substantially all the fluid and extraction material has been removed from the chamber.

25. A method of separation of bioactive components from milk using the method as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 24.

26. A cartridge for extraction of components from a fluid substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying figures.

27. An extraction system for extraction of components from a fluid substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying figures. 23 Intellectual Property Office of N.2. -8 NOV 2006 RECEIVED

28. A method of using a cartridge for the extraction of components from the fluid substantially as described herein, with reference to the accompanying figures. DEC INTERNATIONAL NZ LIMITED by their authorised agents JAMES & WELLS Intellectual Property Office of N.Z. - 8 NOV 2008 RECEIVED