This study presents aroma compounds separation from a model multicomponent solution as well as natural apple juice hydrolate by pervaporation (PV). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the influence of the operating parameters on membrane separation performance. The experiments were planned in accordance with the Box–Behnken design for such three input variables as temperature, feed flow rate, and the concentration of aroma compounds in the feed. For the enrichment factor as the system response, the optimal values of independent variables amounted to respectively T = 60 °C, Q = 1.30 dm3/min, and C = 0.5 wt %. For these conditions, the enrichment factor was predicted to be 87.56. In the last step, PV of apple juice hydrolate was performed under optimal conditions as determined through RSM for a multicomponent system. Optimal conditions determined by RSM for the model solution allowed for getting satisfactory effectiveness of PV of real fruit juice hydrolate.
Practical Applications
Aroma compounds of natural origin have nowadays become a precious commodity, due to a growing awareness on the part of the customers who are concerned with the quality and origin of the goods they purchase. Manufacturers are on the lookout for new production techniques that can reduce energy, natural resources or reagents consumption. Pervaporation (PV) ranks among such techniques, thanks to mild process conditions, low energy consumption, modular apparatus, and high effectiveness as compared to the commonly applied thermic processes or extractions with solvents. The current study investigates mathematical modeling of PV in order to determine optimal process parameters for separation experiments of aroma compounds from multicomponent aqueous systems as well as apple juice hydrolate. So far, RSM coupled with Box–Behnken design has not been applied for PV optimization of aroma compounds from multicomponent aqueous solutions. Additionally, PV has not yet been applied in the concentration of apple juice hydrolate.