Classical and Recent Applications of Membrane Processes in the Food Industry

Abstract

Membrane processes are extensively used in the food industry, especially in the dairy, wine and beer, fruit juice and sugar industries. In the dairy industry, removal of bacteria and spores from skim milk (cold pasteurization), separation of casein micelles, separation and fractionation of fat globules from whole milk, concentration and demineralization of whey and milk ultrafiltration permeate, fractionation of whey proteins and desalination of whey membrane processes are realized by membrane processes. In the wine and beer industry, cross-flow of wines and beer clarification and stabilization of wines by electrodialysis are of common use. Fruit juice processing involves clarification, concentration and deacidification. In the sugar industry, purification and demineralization are realized by membrane processes. This review presents these membrane processes by focusing on the main parameters and phenomena like permeation flux, selectivity and fouling of membranes. Innovative pilot designs and cleaning methods are presented. The potentials of more unusual techniques like membrane emulsification and electrodialysis of organic acids from fermentation broth are also underlined. A specific attention is paid to the recent development of membrane processes in the food industries.

Advances, Applications, and Comparison of Thermal (Pasteurization, Sterilization, and Aseptic Packaging) against Non-Thermal (Ultrasounds, UV Radiation, Ozonation, High Hydrostatic Pressure) Technologies in Food Processing

“…Differently from microfluidizers, membrane technology is widely used in the food industry, becoming one of the most exploited non-thermal techniques over the last few decades [244]. Usually, membrane processes are categorized in more specific groups: microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis [245].…”

“…In the dairy industry, membrane technology is extensively used due to its versatility; it is possible to eliminate bacteria and spores from milk, separate casein micelles, fractionate fats from whole milk, and concentrate and demineralize milk [244].…”

Novel technologies for extending the shelf life of drinking milk: Concepts, research trends and current applications

“…Technologies based on crossflow membrane filtration have become important in food processing since their development in the 1960s and, at present, have a variety of applications in the dairy sector (Charcosset, 2020). Among these, microfiltration (MF) is best suitable for skim milk sanitizing.…”

Comprehensive Analysis of Foulants in an Ultrafiltration Membrane Used for the Treatment of Bleach Plant Effluent in a Sulfite Pulp Mill

“…Membrane filtration has already established itself as a highly selective and energy-efficient separation process in various industries [ 1 , 2 ], among them pulp and paper mills [ 3 , 4 ]. One of the main challenges in membrane processes is that the membrane capacity decreases with time due to membrane fouling.…”