A novel membrane combination process for the nonthermal concentration of juices and beverages
Cornell University, United States of America
Wednesday September 18th, 2019 at 9:00 am (Mexico City, MX; 14:00 UTC)
As nonthermally processed juices and beverages have become very popular in recent years, membrane filtration is increasingly used to replace thermal processing in the juice industry, either for microbial removal or for concentration. Membrane processes are able to maintain a high nutritional value, taste and flavor of the processed products, particularly when performed cold. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a popular alternative to thermal concentration of liquid foods, but it is limited in terms of the final concentration that can be achieved due to pronounced concentration polarization and membrane fouling. At the same time, Forward Osmosis (FO) is gaining increasing attention as a concentration driven membrane process that allows processing of liquids with high levels of solids, without significant membrane fouling. This presentation will provide a description of both RO and FO and will introduce a novel nonthermal membrane combination process that combines the advantages of RO and FO to obtain similar concentration levels as thermal evaporation. Aspects related to processing parameters, product quality, as well as energy consumption will be discussed.
Introduction to the Rheology of foods with emphasis on linear and non-linear viscoelasticity and their application