VITIBEN® is mined from a special vein of Wyoming bentonite, which is ideal for the wine and juice production industries. VITIBEN® is designed to “fine” or remove undesirable compounds from wine and juice, such as phenolics, proteins, and tannins. These natural compounds can cause browning, off-flavours, post-bottling settling and lead to a poor shelf life in wine and juices, which are all naturally detrimental attributes that can be eliminated by using our VITIBEN® bentonite.
The VITIBEN® fining agent absorbs and coagulates the undesirable substances so they can be easily filtered out during fining or clarification. In addition, our VITIBEN® products are proven to improve juice yields and reduce overall processing costs. Our products have a superior dispersibility in cold water and have an extremely high activity, due to a higher content of montmorillonite (the active ingredient for fining) and a typically more active surface area than other bentonite clarifying agents on the market.
Bentonite is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. As a swelling clay, bentonite can absorb large quantities of water, which can increase its volume by up to a factor of eight. The montmorillonite making up bentonite is an aluminium phyllosilicate mineral, which takes the form of microscopic platy grains. These give the clay a very large total surface area, making bentonite a valuable adsorbent
The different types of bentonite are each named after the respective dominant cation. For industrial purposes, two main classes of bentonite are recognized: sodium and calcium bentonite. Sodium bentonite is the more valuable but calcium bentonite is more common. Sodium bentonite expands when wet, absorbing as much as several times its dry mass in water. Because of its excellent colloidal properties, it is often used in drilling mud for oil and gas wells and boreholes for geotechnical and environmental investigations. The property of swelling also makes sodium bentonite useful as a sealant, since it provides a self-sealing, low permeability barrier.
Calcium bentonite is a useful adsorbent of ions in solution, as well as fats and oils. It is the main active ingredient of fuller’s earth (bleaching earth), probably one of the earliest known industrial cleaning agents. It has significantly less swelling capacity than sodium bentonite.
The main uses of bentonite are in drilling mud and as a binder, purifier, absorbent, and carrier for fertilizers or pesticides. Bentonite has been widely used as a foundry-sand bond in iron and steel foundries. Bentonites are also used for decolorizing various mineral, vegetable, and animal oils.
Bentonite has the property of adsorbing relatively large amounts of protein molecules from aqueous solutions. Consequently, bentonite is uniquely useful in the process of winemaking, where it is used to remove excessive amounts of protein from white wines. Were it not for this use of bentonite, many or most white wines would precipitate undesirable flocculent clouds or hazes upon exposure to warm temperatures, as these proteins denature.
Bentonite is also considered an effective low-cost adsorbent for the removal of chromium ions from aqueous solutions (contaminated wastewater). In addition, due to its absorption properties, bentonite is used in a variety of pet care products such as cat litter to absorb pet waste. It is also used to absorb oils and grease.
We supply a diverse range of bentonite products for the animal feed sector, in the production of feed pellets, and as effective free-flow aids and anti-caking agents in mineral feeds. We also specialise in mycotoxin absorption and supply various tailor-made products which are mixed with feeds or ready-mixes to prevent farm animals from metabolising aflatoxins, reducing the risk of immune depression, lowered fertility and impaired digestion, typically caused by mycotoxins found in feed mixes.
Our bentonite products are typically used as softening compounds and/or suspension and thickening aids in cosmetic, household and personal care applications e.g. powder detergents, make-ups and creams and facial masks and thermal mud therapy.
Due to its versatile nature and high adsorption efficacy, our range of bentonite is used in a myriad of technical and industrial applications such as inks, tile adhesives, interior paints and water-based coatings, paper manufacturing, waste water treatment, and as specialised additives for ceramics and refractories.
Furthermore, bentonite is used as an inert carrier for pesticides, fertilizers, and fire retardants. It helps ensure that the active agent is uniformly dispersed and that pesticides and fertilizers are retained on the plants.