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Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 25920

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kulozik

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Guest Editor

Chair of Food and Bioprocess Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
Interests: Membrane and Chromatographic Separation Technology, Food Structure Design and Analysis, Interfacial Science, Drying Technology, Thermal Process Engineering, Starter culture and enzymativ bioprocess engineering
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Dr. Heidebrecht Hans-Jürgen

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Guest Editor

Chair of Food and Bioprocess Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
Interests: immunoglobulins, filtration, colostrum, milk protein fractionation, dairy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This issue of “Foods” will focus on innovative applications of membrane processing technology in or for food manufacturing. The purpose is to collect and integrate new insights on practical experience as well as new insights resulting from recent research work. Progress on the problem of deposit formation affecting flux and transmission of target components in concentration and fractionation of complex food systems using membrane technology will be emphasized. Contributions on the modelling of flow and mass transfer at membrane/fluid interfaces targeting process optimization or process intensification by membrane-based processes for a better understanding are as important as those on novel types of membrane module systems or membrane materials for improved separation results. In addition, aspects of membrane rinsing and clean-in-place (CIP) cleaning can be addressed. Contributions related to novel membrane technologies with future potential for application such as—but not limited to—forward osmosis, electro-membrane filtration, field flow fractionation in combination with porous membrane walls, or hybrid processes in food-related biotechnology are highly welcome.

We welcome your proposed publication abstract with 3-6 explanatory sentences (max. 150 words) first. The final deadline for submitting the articles is 31 July 2018. All articles will be peer reviewed and articles received before the deadline will be immediately processed. Please take note of the deadline.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kulozik
Dr. Heidebrecht Hans-Jürgen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

food
concentration
fractionation
deposit formation
reverse osmosis
nanofiltration
ultrafiltration
microfiltration
electro-membrane filtration
forward osmosis
hybrid processes

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1540 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Milk Protein Fractionation by Means of Spiral-Wound Microfiltration Membranes: Effect of the Pressure Adjustment Mode and Temperature on Flux and Protein Permeation

by Martin Hartinger, Hans-Jürgen Heidebrecht, Simon Schiffer, Joseph Dumpler and Ulrich Kulozik

Foods 2019, 8(6), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8060180 - 28 May 2019

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 3727

Abstract

Protein fractionation by means of microfiltration (MF) is significantly affected by fouling, especially when spiral-wound membranes (SWMs) are used. We investigated the influence of the mode of transmembrane pressure (Δp_TM) increase to target level and the deposit layer pressure history on the filtration performance during skim milk MF at temperatures of 10 °C and 50 °C. Two filtration protocols were established: No. 1: Δp_TM was set directly to various target values. No. 2: Starting from a low Δp_TM, we increased and subsequently decreased Δp_TM stepwise. The comparison of both protocols tested the effect of the mode of Δp_TM increase to target level. The latter protocol alone tested the effect of the deposit layer history with regard to the Δp_TM. As expected, flux and protein permeation were both found to be functions of the Δp_TM. Further, both measures were independent of the filtration protocol as long as Δp_TM was held at a constant level or, as part of protocol No. 2, Δp_TM was increased. Thus, we can state that the mode of Δp_TM increase to target level does not affect filtration performance in SWM. We found that after completion of a full cycle of stepping Δp_TM up from 0.5 bar to 3.0 bar and back down, flux and deposit layer resistance were not affected by the deposit layer history at 10 °C, but they were at 50 °C. Protein permeation, however, was lower for both 10 °C and 50 °C, when the Δp_TM cycle was completed. The processing history had a significant impact on filtration performance due to remaining structural compression effects in the deposited layer, which occur most notably at higher temperatures. Furthermore, temperatures of 50 °C lead to deposit layer aging, which is probably due to an enhanced crosslinking of particles in the deposit layer. Apart from that, we could show that fouling resistance does not directly correlate with protein permeation during skim milk MF using SWM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry)

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9 pages, 806 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fractionation of Glycomacropeptide from Whey Using Positively Charged Ultrafiltration Membranes

by Abhiram Arunkumar and Mark R. Etzel

Foods 2018, 7(10), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7100166 - 09 Oct 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3910

Abstract

Fractionation of the bovine glycomacropeptide (GMP) from the other proteins in cheese whey was examined using ultrafiltration membranes surface modified to contain positively charged polymer brushes made of polyhexamethylene biguanide. By placing a strong positive charge on a 1000 kDa ultrafiltration membrane and adjusting the pH of whey close to the isoelectric point of GMP, a 14-fold increase in selectivity was observed compared to unmodified membranes. A one stage membrane system gave 90% pure GMP and a three-stage rectification system gave 97% pure GMP. The charged membrane was salt-tolerant up to 40 mS cm⁻¹ conductivity, allowing fractionation of GMP directly from cheese whey without first lowering the whey conductivity by water dilution. Thus, similarly sized proteins that differed somewhat in isoelectric points and were 50–100 fold smaller than the membrane molecular weight cut-off (MWCO), were cleanly fractionated using charged ultrafiltration membranes without water addition. This is the first study to report on the use of salt-tolerant charged ultrafiltration membranes to produce chromatographically pure protein fractions from whey, making ultrafiltration an attractive alternative to chromatography for dairy protein fractionation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry)

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10 pages, 703 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Ultrafiltration of Milk Prior to Fermentation on Mass Balance and Process Efficiency in Greek-Style Yogurt Manufacture

by Adriana Paredes Valencia, Alain Doyen, Scott Benoit, Manuele Margni and Yves Pouliot

Foods 2018, 7(9), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7090144 - 04 Sep 2018

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6592

Abstract

Ultrafiltration (UF) can be used to concentrate yogurt to produce Greek-style yogurt (GSY) (UF-YOG), but this generates acid whey permeate, which is an environmental issue. However, when UF is applied before fermentation (UF-MILK), a nonacidified whey permeate is generated. For this study, two model GSYs (UF-YOG and UF-MILK) were produced to compare the composition, UF performance, and energy consumption of the two processes. For UF-MILK, skim milk was ultrafiltered with a 30 kDa spiral-wound UF membrane to achieve a 3× volume reduction factor (VRF). The retentate was fermented to a pH of 4.5. The UF-YOG process was the same except that regular yogurt was ultrafiltered. Both GSYs had similar protein (~10%) and solid content (~17%). As expected, lactic acid/lactate was not detected in UF-MILK permeate, while 7.3 g/kg was recovered from the UF-YOG permeate. Permeation flux values (11.6 to 13.3 L m⁻² h⁻¹) and total flux decline (47% to 50%) were constant during UF-MILK, whereas drastic decreases in these two membrane performance indicators (average flux: 38.5 to 10.9 L m⁻² h⁻¹; total flux decline: 2% to 38%) were calculated for UF-YOG. Moreover, for UF-YOG, UF membrane performance never recovered, even when drastic and repeated cleaning steps were applied. Energy consumption was 1.6 kWh/kg GSY and remained constant for UF-MILK, whereas it increased from 0.6 to 1.5 kWh/kg GSY for UF-YOG. Our results show that, although the composition of GSYs was similar for both processes, the UF step of yogurt concentration affected process efficiency due to drastic and permanent membrane fouling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry)

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10 pages, 3199 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Milk Protein Concentration Using Negatively Charged Ultrafiltration Membranes

by Abhiram Arunkumar and Mark R. Etzel

Foods 2018, 7(9), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7090134 - 28 Aug 2018

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4926

Abstract

In this work, milk protein concentrate (MPC) was made using wide-pore negatively charged ultrafiltration membranes. The charged membranes were used for a six-fold volume concentration of skim milk and subsequent diafiltration to mimic the industrial MPC process. The charged 100 kDa membranes had at least a four-fold higher permeate flux at the same protein recovery as unmodified 30 kDa membranes, which are currently used in the dairy industry to make MPC. By placing a negative charge on the surface of an ultrafiltration membrane, the negatively charged proteins were rejected by electrostatic repulsion and not simply size-based sieving. Mass balance models of concentration and diafiltration were developed and the calculations matched the experimental observations. This is the first study to use wide-pore charged tangential-flow membranes for MPC manufacturing. Additionally, a unique mass balance model was applied, which accurately predicted experimental results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry)

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12 pages, 4262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Concentration of Immunoglobulins in Microfiltration Permeates of Skim Milk: Impact of Transmembrane Pressure and Temperature on the IgG Transmission Using Different Ceramic Membrane Types and Pore Sizes

by Hans-Jürgen Heidebrecht, José Toro-Sierra and Ulrich Kulozik

Foods 2018, 7(7), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7070101 - 28 Jun 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5857

Abstract

The use of bioactive bovine milk immunoglobulins (Ig) has been found to be an alternative treatment for certain human gastrointestinal diseases. Some methodologies have been developed with bovine colostrum. These are considered in laboratory scale and are bound to high cost and limited availability of the raw material. The main challenge remains in obtaining high amounts of active IgG from an available source as mature cow milk by the means of industrial processes. Microfiltration (MF) was chosen as a process variant, which enables a gentle and effective concentration of the Ig fractions (ca. 0.06% in raw milk) while reducing casein and lactose at the same time. Different microfiltration membranes (ceramic standard and gradient), pore sizes (0.14–0.8 µm), transmembrane pressures (0.5–2.5 bar), and temperatures (10, 50 °C) were investigated. The transmission of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and casein during the filtration of raw skim milk (<0.1% fat) was evaluated during batch filtration using a single channel pilot plant. The transmission levels of IgG (~160 kDa) were measured to be at the same level as the reference major whey protein β-Lg (~18 kDa) at all evaluated pore sizes and process parameters despite the large difference in molecular mass of both fractions. Ceramic gradient membranes with a pore sizes of 0.14 µm showed IgG-transmission rates between 45% to 65% while reducing the casein fraction below 1% in the permeates. Contrary to the expectations, a lower pore size of 0.14 µm yielded fluxes up to 35% higher than 0.2 µm MF membranes. It was found that low transmembrane pressures benefit the Ig transmission. Upscaling the presented results to a continuous MF membrane process offers new possibilities for the production of immunoglobulin enriched supplements with well-known processing equipment for large scale milk protein fractionation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Processing Technology in the Food Industry)

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